CLXXXV Atalanta
Schoeneus Atalantam filiam virginem formosissimam dicitur habuisse, quae virtute sua cursu viros superabat. ea petiit a patre ut se virginem servaret. itaque cum a pluribus in coniugium peteretur, pater eius simultatem constituit, qui eam ducere vellet prius in certamine cursu cum ea contenderet, termino constituto, ut ille inermis fugeret haec cum telo insequeretur; quem intra finem termini constitu* ta fuisset interficeret, cuius caput in stadio figeret. plerosque cum superasset et occidisset novissime ab Hippomene Megarei et Meropes filio victa est. hic enim a Venere mala tria insignis formae acceperat, edoctus quis usus in eis esset. qui in ipso certamine iactando puellae impetum alligavit. illa enim dum colligit et ammiratur aurum, declinavit et iuveni victoriam tradidit. cui Schoeneus ob industriam libens filiam suam dedit uxorem. Hanc cum in patriam duceret, oblitus beneficio Veneris se vicisse, grates ei non egit. irata Venere in monte Parnaso cum sacrificaret Iovi victori, cupiditate incensus cum ea in fano concubuit. quos Iuppiter ob id factum in leonem et leam convertit, quibus dii concubitum Veneris denegant.
185. Atalanta
Schoeneus is said to have had a daughter, Atalanta, a most beautiful maiden, who by her prowess surpassed men in running. She asked her father to keep her a virgin. So, since she was sought in marriage by many, her father set a contest: whoever wished to marry her must first compete with her in a footrace, with a boundary set, so that he should run unarmed and she should pursue with a weapon; she was to kill him if he was caught within the limit of the boundary * set, and fix his head in the stadium. When she had beaten and killed very many, at last she was beaten by Hippomenes, son of Megareus and Merope. He had received from Aphrodite three apples of remarkable beauty and been taught what their use was. In the very race, by throwing them down he held back the girl's rush. For while she was gathering and admiring the gold, she turned aside and gave the young man the victory. Schoeneus, pleased with his effort, gave him his daughter as wife. As he was taking her to his homeland, forgetting that he had won by Aphrodite's favour, he did not thank her. Aphrodite being angry, while he was sacrificing to Zeus the Victor on Mount Parnassus, inflamed with desire he lay with her in the shrine. For this deed Zeus turned them into a lion and a lioness, to whom the gods deny the union of Aphrodite.
CLXXXVI Melanippe
Melanippen Desmontis filiam (sive Aeoli ut alii poetae dicunt) formosissimam Neptunus compressit, ex qua procreavit filios duos. quod cum Desmontes rescisset [et] Melanippen excaecavit et in munimento conclusit; cui potum atque cibum exiguum praestari iussit, infantes autem feris proici. qui cum proiecti essent, vacca lactens veniebat ad infantes et ubera praestabat. quod cum armentarii vidissent tollunt eos ut educarent. Interim Metapontus rex Icariae a coniuge Theano petebat, ut sibi liberos procrearet, ⟨a⟩ut regno cederet. illa timens mittit ad pastores ut infantem aliquem explicarent, quem regi subderet: qui miserunt duos inventos: ea regi Metaponto pro suis supposuit. postea autem Theano ex Metaponto peperit duos. cum autem Metapontus priores valide amaret, quod formosissimi essent, Theano quaerebat ut eos tolleret et filiis suis regnum servaret. Dies advenerat ut Metapontus exiret ad Dianam Metapontinam ad sacrum faciendum. Theano occasione nacta indicat filiis suis eos * suppositicios priores esse; itaque cum in venationem exierint, eos cultris interficite. illi autem matris monitu cum in montem exissent, praelium inter se commiserunt: Neptuno autem adiuvante Neptuni filii vicerunt et eos interfecerunt. quorum corpora cum in regiam allata essent, Theano cultro venatorio se interfecit; ultores autem Boeotus et Aeolus ad pastores ubi educati erant confugerunt. Ibi Neptunus eis indicat, ex se esse natos et matrem in custodia teneri. qui ad Desmontem pervenerunt eumque interfecerunt et matrem custodia liberarunt; cui Neptunus lumen restituit. eam filii perduxerunt in Icariam ad Metapontum regem et indicant ei perfidiam Theanus. post quae Metapontus duxit coniugio Melanippen eosque sibi filios adoptavit; qui in Propontide ex suo nomine condiderunt Boeotus Boeotiam Aeolus Aeoliam.
186. Melanippe
Melanippe, daughter of Desmontes (or of Aeolus, as other poets say), a most beautiful girl, was seduced by Poseidon, and by him she bore two sons. When Desmontes found this out, he [and] blinded Melanippe and shut her in a fortress; he ordered her to be given drink and a meagre food, and the infants to be thrown to wild beasts. When they had been thrown out, a nursing cow came to the infants and gave them her udders. When herdsmen saw it, they took them up to bring them up. Meanwhile Metapontus, king of Icaria, was demanding of his wife Theano that she bear him children or yield the kingdom. She, afraid, sent to the herdsmen asking them to find some infant she might pass off on the king: they sent two they had found; she passed them off on King Metapontus as her own. Later Theano bore two sons by Metapontus. But when Metapontus loved the first ones strongly, because they were most beautiful, Theano sought to remove them and save the kingdom for her own sons. The day had come for Metapontus to go out to Artemis of Metapontum to perform a sacrifice. Theano, finding her opportunity, told her sons that the elder ones were * supposititious; so when they went out hunting they should kill them with knives. But those two, at their mother's instruction, when they had gone into the mountain, fought a battle among themselves: with Poseidon's help the sons of Poseidon won and killed them. When their bodies had been brought into the palace, Theano killed herself with a hunting knife; and the avengers, Boeotus and Aeolus, fled to the herdsmen where they had been brought up. There Poseidon told them that they were born of him and that their mother was held in custody. They came to Desmontes and killed him and freed their mother from custody; Poseidon restored her sight. Her sons led her to Icaria to King Metapontus and told him of Theano's treachery. After this Metapontus married Melanippe and adopted them as his sons; and in the Propontis they founded, each from his own name, Boeotus Boeotia and Aeolus Aeolia.
CLXXXVII Alope
Alope Cercyonis filia formosissima cum esset, Neptunus eam compressit, qua ex compressione peperit infantem quem inscio patre
nutrici dedit exponendum. qui cum expositus esset, equa venit et lac ei praestabat. quidam pastor equam persecutus vidit infantem atque eum sustulit. qui veste regia indutum cum in casam tulisset, alter compastor rogavit, ut sibi eum infantem donaret: ille ei donavit sine veste. cum autem inter eos iurgium esset, quod qui puerum acceperat insignia ingenuitatis reposceret, ille autem non daret, contendentes ad regem Cercyonem venerunt et contendere coeperunt. ille autem qui infantem donatum acceperat repetere insignia coepit. quae cum allata essent et agnosceret Cercyon, ea esse ex veste scissa filiae suae, Alopes nutrix timens regi indicium fecit, infantem eum Alopes esse. qui filiam iussit ad necem includi, infantem autem proici. quem iterum equa nutriebat, pastores iterum inventum sustulerunt, sentientes eum deorum numine educari, atque nutrierunt nomenque ei imposuerunt Hippothoum. Theseus cum ea iter faceret a Troezene, Cercyonem interfecit: Hippothous autem ad Theseum venit regnaque avita rogavit. cui Theseus libens dedit, cum sciret eum Neptuni filium esse, unde ipse genus ducebat. Alopes autem corpus Neptunus in fontem commutavit, qui ex nomine Alopes est cognominatus.
187. Alope
Alope, daughter of Cercyon, was a most beautiful girl; Poseidon lay with her, and from this union she bore an infant, whom, without her father's knowledge,
gave to the nurse to be exposed. When he had been exposed, a mare came and gave him milk. A herdsman, following the mare, saw the infant and took him up. When he had carried him, dressed in royal garments, to his hut, another fellow-herdsman asked him to give him the infant: he gave him to him without the garment. When a quarrel arose between them, because the one who had received the boy demanded the tokens of free birth and the other would not give them, they went contending to King Cercyon and began to dispute. The one who had received the infant as a gift began to demand the tokens back. When they were brought and Cercyon recognised that they were from the torn dress of his daughter, Alope's nurse, afraid, gave the king the information that the infant was Alope's. He ordered his daughter to be shut up to die, and the infant to be thrown out. A mare again nursed him; the herdsmen again found him and took him up, perceiving that he was brought up by the will of the gods, and fed him and gave him the name Hippothous. When Theseus was travelling from Troezen he killed Cercyon: Hippothous came to Theseus and asked for his ancestral kingdom. Theseus gladly gave it to him, since he knew that he was a son of Poseidon, from whom he himself traced his descent. Poseidon changed Alope's body into a spring, which was named after Alope.
CLXXXVIII Theophane
Theophane Bisaltidis filia formosissima virgo. hanc cum plures proci peterent a patre, Neptunus sublatam transtulit in insulam †Crumissam. quod cum proci eam scissent ibi morari nave comparata †Crumissam contendere coeperunt. Neptunus ut eos deciperet, Theophanen in ovem commutavit formosissimam, ipse ⟨se⟩ autem in arietem, cives autem †Crumissenses in pecora. quo cum proci venissent neque ullum hominem invenirent, pecora mactare coeperunt atque ea victu consumere. hoc Neptunus ut vidit, in pecora commutatos consumi, procos in lupos convertit, ipse autem ut erat aries cum Theophane concubuit. ex quo natus est aries chrysomallus, qui Colchos Phrixum vexit. cuius pellem Aeeta in luco Martis habuit positam; quam Iason sustulit.
188. Theophane
Theophane was the daughter of Bisaltes, a most beautiful maiden. When many suitors sought her from her father, Poseidon carried her off and took her to the island of †Crumissa. When the suitors found out that she was staying there, they got a ship ready and set out for †Crumissa. To deceive them, Poseidon changed Theophane into a most beautiful ewe, himself into a ram, and the citizens of †Crumissa into flocks. When the suitors came there and found no human being, they began to slaughter the flocks and to consume them as food. When Poseidon saw this, that those who had been changed into animals were being eaten, he turned the suitors into wolves, and he himself, as he was a ram, lay with Theophane. From this was born the ram with the golden fleece (chrysomallus), which carried Phrixus to Colchis. Aeetes kept its fleece set up in the grove of Ares; Jason took it away.
CLXXXVIIII Procris
Procris Pandionis filia. hanc Cephalus Deionis filius habuit in coniugio. qui cum mutuo amore tenerentur, alter alteri fidem dederunt, ne quis cum alio concumberet. Cephalus autem cum studio venandi teneretur et matutino tempore in montem exisset, Aurora Tit⟨h⟩oni coniunx eum adamavit petitque ab eo concubitum. cui Cephalus negavit, quod Procri fidem ⟨de⟩dederat: tunc Aurora ait: ‘nolo ut fallas fidem, nisi illa prior fefellerit’. itaque commutat eum in hospitis figuram atque dat munera speciosa quae Procri deferret. quo⟨d⟩ cum Cephalus venisset immutata specie munera Procri dedit et cum ea concubuit. tunc ei Aurora speciem hospitis abstulit. quae cum Cephalum vidisset, sensit se ab Aurora deceptam et inde profugit in Cretam insulam, ubi Diana venabatur. quam cum Diana conspexisset ait ei: ‘mecum virgines venantur, tu virgo non es, secede de hoc ⟨coe⟩tu’. cui Procris indicat casus suos et se ab Aurora deceptam. Diana misericordia tacta dat ei iaculum, quod nemo evitare posset et canem Laelapem, quem nulla fera effugere posset et iubet eam ire et cum Cephalo contendere. ea capillis demptis iuvenili habitu Dianae voluntate ad Cephalum venit eumque provocavit: quem in venatione superavit. Cephalus ut vidit tantam potentiam canis atque iaculi esse, petit ab hospite, non existimans coniugem suam esse, ut sibi iaculum et canem venderet; illa negare coepit: regni quoque partem pollicetur; illa negat ‘sed si utique, ait, perstas id possidere, da mihi id quod pueri solent dare’. ille amore iaculi et canis incensus promisit se daturum. qui cum in thalamos venissent, Procris tunicam levavit et ostendit se f[o]eminam esse et coniugem illius; cum qua Cephalus muneribus acceptis redit in gratiam. nihilominus illa timens Auroram matutino tempore secuta eum, ut observaret, atque inter virgulta delituit. quae virgulta cum Cephalus moveri vidit, iaculum inevitabile misit et Procrin coniugem suam interfecit. ex qua Cephalus habuit filium Arcesium, ex quo nascitur Laertes Ulyssis pater.
189. Procris
Procris was the daughter of Pandion. Cephalus, son of Deion, had her as wife. As they were held by mutual love, each gave the other a pledge that neither would lie with another. But Cephalus, being held by a passion for hunting, and having gone out one morning on the mountain, Aurora (Eos), wife of Tithonus, fell in love with him and asked him for intercourse. Cephalus refused, because he had given Procris a pledge; then Aurora said: ‘I do not wish you to break your pledge unless she has broken hers first.’ So she changed him into the form of a stranger and gave him splendid presents to carry to Procris. When Cephalus, his appearance changed, came and gave Procris the presents, he lay with her. Then Aurora took away from him the stranger's appearance. When Procris saw Cephalus, she realised she had been deceived by Aurora and fled from there to the island of Crete, where Artemis was hunting. When Artemis saw her she said to her: ‘Maidens hunt with me; you are not a maiden; withdraw from this company.’ Procris told her her fortunes and that she had been deceived by Aurora. Artemis, touched with pity, gave her a javelin which no one could avoid and the dog Laelaps, which no wild beast could escape, and told her to go and contend with Cephalus. She, with her hair cut off, in a young man's dress, by Artemis' will came to Cephalus and challenged him: she beat him in hunting. When Cephalus saw what power the dog and javelin had, he asked the stranger, not thinking it was his wife, to sell him the javelin and the dog; she began to refuse: he promised also a share of the kingdom; she refused, ‘but if you insist on possessing it, give me what boys are accustomed to give.’ He, inflamed with desire for the javelin and dog, promised to give it. When they came into the bedchamber, Procris lifted her tunic and showed that she was a woman and his wife; with her Cephalus, having accepted the gifts, returned to concord. Nevertheless she, fearing Aurora, followed him one morning to watch him, and hid among the bushes. When Cephalus saw the bushes moving, he threw the unavoidable javelin and killed his wife Procris. By her Cephalus had a son Arcesius, from whom Laertes, the father of Odysseus, was born.
CXC Theonoe
Thestor mantis habuit Calchantem filium et Leucippen filiam et Theonoen quam ludentem a mari piratae rapuerunt et detulerunt in Cariam; quam rex Icarus sibi in concubinatum emit. Thestor autem filia amissa inquisitum profectus est, qui naufragio in terram Cariam venit et in vincula est coniectus ibi, ubi et Theonoe morabatur. Leucippe autem patre et sorore amissis Delphos petit, an eorum foret investigatio. tum Apollo respondit: ‘pro meo sacerdote per terras vade et eos reperies’. Leucippe sorte audita capillos totondit atque pro iuvene sacerdote circum terras exit investigatum. quae cum in Cariam devenisset et Theonoe eam vidisset, existimans sacerdotem esse in amorem eius incidit iubetque ad se perduci, ut cum eo concumberet. illa autem quia f[o]emina erat negat id posse fieri: Theonoe irata iubet sacerdotem includi in cubiculum atque aliquem ex ergastulo venire, qui sacerdotem interficeret. quem ad interficiendum mittitur senex Thestor imprudens ad filiam suam: quem Theonoe non agnovit datque ei gladium et iubet eum sacerdotem interficere. qui cum intrasset et gladium teneret, Thestorem se vocitari dixit, duabus filiis Leucippe et Theonoe amissis ad hunc exit[i]um venisse, ut sibi scelus imperaretur. quod ille in se cum convertisset et vellet ipsum se interficere, Leucippe audito patris nomine gladium ei extorsit. quae ad reginam interficiendam ut veniret, patrem Thestorem in adiutorio vocavit, Theonoe patris nomine audito indicat se filiam esse eius; Icarus autem rex agnitione facta cum muneribus eum in patriam remisit.
190. Theonoe
The seer Thestor had a son Calchas and a daughter Leucippe and Theonoe, whom pirates seized from the sea while she was playing and carried to Caria; King Icarus bought her for himself as a concubine. Thestor, having lost his daughter, set out to search, and by shipwreck came to the land of Caria and was thrown into chains there, where Theonoe also was staying. Leucippe, having lost her father and sister, went to Delphi to ask whether she would find them. Then Apollo answered: ‘Go through the lands in the guise of my priest and you will find them.’ Leucippe, having heard the oracle, cut off her hair and went out as a young priest around the lands to search. When she had come to Caria and Theonoe saw her, thinking her a priest she fell in love with her and ordered her to be brought to her to lie with her. She, because she was a woman, said that this could not be done; Theonoe, angry, ordered the priest to be shut up in a chamber and someone from the slave-prison to come to kill the priest. The old man Thestor was sent, unwittingly, to his own daughter to kill him: Theonoe did not recognise him, and gave him a sword and told him to kill the priest. When he had entered and was holding the sword, he said that he was called Thestor, that having lost two children, Leucippe and Theonoe, he had come to this end so that a crime might be commanded him. When he had turned the sword upon himself and wished to kill himself, Leucippe, hearing her father's name, wrested the sword from him. When she came to kill the queen, she called on her father Thestor for help; Theonoe, hearing her father's name, revealed that she was his daughter; King Icarus, the recognition having taken place, sent him back to his homeland with gifts.
CXCI rex Midas
Midas rex Mygdonius filius matris ⟨I⟩deae a Tymolo ⟨i⟩udex est sumptus eo tempore, quo Apollo cum Marsya [vel Pane fistula] certavit. quod cum Tymolus victoriam Apollini daret, Midas dixit Marsyae potius dandam. tunc Apollo indignatus Midae dixit: ‘quale cor in iudicando habuisti, tales et auriculas habebis’ quibus diris effecit ut asininas haberet aures. [Eo tempore] Liber pater cum exercitum in Indiam duceret, Silenus aberravit, quem Midas exceptum hospitio liberaliter accepit, atque ducem dedit qui eum in comitatum Liberi deduceret. At Midae Liber pater ob beneficium [de]optandi dedit potestatem, ut quicquid vellet peteret a se. ⟨a⟩ quo Midas petiit, ut quidquid tetigisset aurum fieret. quod cum impetrasset et in regiam venisset, quidquid tetigerat aurum fiebat. cum iam fame cruciaretur petit a Libero ut sibi speciosum donum eriperet. quem Liber iussit in flumine Pactolo se abluere, cuius corpus aquam cum tetigisset, facta est colore aureo. quod flumen nunc Chrysorrhoas appellatur in Lydia.
191. King Midas
Midas, king of Mygdonia, son of the mother Idea, was chosen as judge by Tmolus at the time when Apollo competed with Marsyas [or with Pan on the pipe]. When Tmolus gave the victory to Apollo, Midas said it should rather be given to Marsyas. Then Apollo, indignant, said to Midas: ‘As the heart you had in judging, such ears also you shall have’, and with these curses brought it about that he had ass's ears. [At that time] when Father Liber was leading an army to India, Silenus wandered off; Midas received him as a guest and entertained him generously, and gave him a guide to take him to Liber's company. In return for the kindness, Father Liber gave Midas the power of choosing, so that he might ask of him whatever he wished. Midas asked of him that whatever he touched should become gold. When he had obtained this and come into the palace, whatever he touched turned to gold. When he was now tormented by hunger, he asked Liber to take away from him his splendid gift. Liber told him to wash himself in the river Pactolus, and when his body touched the water, the water became golden in colour. That river is now called the Chrysorrhoas, in Lydia.
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