Meanwhile his son, from actions of renown, Arrives at court, but to his sire unknown. Medea, to despatch a dangerous heir, (She knew him) did a pois’nous draught prepare: Drawn from a drug, was long reserved in store For desperate uses, from the Scythian shore; That from the Echydnaean monster’s jaws Derived its origin, and this the cause:⁠—

Through a dark cave a craggy passage lies, To ours ascending from the nether skies, Through which, by strength of hand, Alcides drew Chain’d Cerberus, who lagg’d, and restiff grew, With his blear’d eyes our brighter day to view. Thrice he repeated his enormous yell, With which he scares the ghosts and startles hell; At last outrageous (though compell’d to yield), He sheds his foam in fury on the field, Which, with its own, and rankness of the ground, Produced a weed, by sorcerers renown’d, The strongest constitution to confound, Call’d aconite, because it can unlock All bars, and force its passage through a rock.