Next was imposed upon him the bringing the bull out of Crete, with which (they say) Pasiphae fell in love. To this end, therefore, he sailed into the island, and, by the assistance of king Minos, transported the beast (for which he had made so long a voyage) into Peloponnesus.

Having performed this task, he instituted the Olympic games, and for that purpose chose out a place he judged most convenient for the reception of such a pompous assembly, which were the fields all along the banks of the river Alpheus. Here he ordered the solemnity of these games to the honour of his father Jupiter, and appointed to the victors a crown for a reward, minding the general good and benefit of mankind, without taking any advantage to himself. In every exercise he was victor, without any opposition; for, by reason of his remarkable strength and valour, none durst contend with him, although the contests were of a contrary and different nature one from another: for it is a hard matter even for a mighty champion in combat always to win the prize in a course, and as difficult for those that are usually victors in small contentions to prevail against them that are eminent in greater contests. Hercules, therefore, prevailed in all these games, carrying away the prize from the chiefest among them.

And here we are not to omit giving an account of the rewards given to him by the gods for his virtue; for, when he retired himself from wars, and betook himself to his ease and quietness, and to follow sports, panegyrics, and festivals, every one of the gods presented him with their several gifts.

Minerva gave him an embroidered hood, Vulcan a club and a breast-plate; and between these two was a contest who should excel in their several arts, whilst the one wrought and bestowed what was for pleasure and ornament in time of peace, and the other what was for defence in time of war. Neptune presented him with horses. Mercury with a sword, Apollo a bow, and taught him the art of archery. And Ceres, to expiate the slaughter of the centaurs, instituted in honour of Hercules some small mysteries. But concerning the birth of this god, this is remarkable; for the first woman upon earth that Jupiter lay with was Niobe, the daughter of Pharoneus, and the last was Alcmena, who was in the sixteenth age after Niobe, as the mythologists say. From the time of her ancestors, he began to beget men, and at length ended in this Alcmena, and would never after have any thing to do with any mortal, or beget any issue, never expecting to beget a more excellent offspring.