When _Hercules_ was dying, he said to the faithful female (Iole) who followed him to the last spot on earth on which he trod, "Weep not, my toil is done, and now is the time for rest. I shall see thee again in the bright land which is never trodden by the feet of night." Then, as the dying god expired, _darkness was on the face of the earth_; from the high heaven came down the thick cloud, _and the din of its thunder crashed through the air_. In this manner, Zeus, the god of gods, carried his son home, and the halls of Olympus were opened to welcome the bright hero who rested from his mighty toil. There he now sits, clothed in a white robe, with a crown upon his head.[208:2] When _Œdipus_ was about to leave this world of pain and sorrow, he bade Antigone farewell, and said, "Weep not, my child, I am going to my home, and I rejoice to lay down the burden of my woe." Then there were _signs_ in the heaven above and on the earth beneath, that the end was nigh at hand, _for the earth did quake, and the thunder roared_ and echoed again and again through the sky.[208:3] "The Romans had a god called _Quirinius_. His soul emanated from the sun, and was restored to it. He was begotten by the god of armies upon a _virgin_ of the royal blood, and exposed by order of the jealous tyrant Amulius, and was preserved and educated among _shepherds_. He was torn to pieces at his death, when he ascended into heaven; _upon which the sun was eclipsed or darkened_."[208:4] When _Alexander the Great_ died, similar prodigies are said to have happened; again, when foul murders were committed, it is said that the sun seemed to hide its face. This is illustrated in the story of _Atreus_, King of Mycenae, who foully murdered the children of his brother Thyestes. At that time, the sun, unable to endure a sight so horrible, "_turned his course backward and withdrew his light._"[208:5] At the time of the death of the virgin-born _Quetzalcoatle_, the Mexican crucified Saviour, _the sun was darkened_, and withheld its light.[209:1] Lord Kingsborough, speaking of this event, considers it very strange that the Mexicans should have preserved an account of it among their records, when "the great eclipse which sacred history records" is _not_ recorded in profane history. Gibbon, the historian, speaking of this phenomenon, says: