The Rev. Mr. Faber, speaking of _Hercules_, says:
"On the _Sphere_ he is represented in the act of contending with the Serpent, the head of which is placed under his foot; and this Serpent, we are told, is that which guarded the tree with golden fruit in the midst of the garden of the Hesperides. But the garden of the Hesperides _was none other than the garden of Paradise_; consequently the serpent of that garden, the head of which is crushed beneath the heel of Hercules, and which itself is described as encircling with its folds the trunk of the mysterious tree, must necessarily be a transcript of that Serpent whose form was assumed by the tempter of our first parents. We may observe the same ancient tradition in the Phœnician fable representing Ophion or Ophioneus."[12:1]
"_Hercules'_ adventures in the garden of the Hesperides, is the Pagan form of the myth that most resembles the precious Serpent-guarded fruit of the Garden of Eden, though the moral of the fable is so widely different."[12:2]
The ancient _Egyptians_ also had the legend of the "Tree of Life." It is mentioned in their sacred books that Osiris ordered the names of some souls to be written on this "Tree of Life," the fruit of which made those who ate it to become as gods.[12:3]
Among the most ancient traditions of the _Hindoos_, is that of the "Tree of Life"--called _Sôma_ in Sanskrit--the juice of which imparted immortality. This most wonderful tree was guarded by spirits.[12:4]
Still more striking is the Hindoo legend of the "Elysium" or "Paradise," which is as follows:
"In the sacred mountain _Meru_, which is perpetually clothed in the golden rays of the Sun, and whose lofty summit reaches into heaven, no sinful man can exist. _It is guarded by a dreadful dragon._ It is adorned with many celestial plants and trees, and is watered by _four rivers_, which thence separate and flow to the four chief directions."[12:5]
The Hindoos, like the philosophers of the Ionic school (Thales, for instance), held _water_ to be the first existing and all-pervading principle, at the same time allowing the co-operation and influence of an _immaterial_ intelligence in the work of creation.[12:6] A Vedic poet, meditating on the Creation, uses the following expressions: