With the aid of the deep-zoned Graces, fain would I shout aloud, while I proclaim Telesicrates, the victor in the Pythian contest with the brazen shield, a happy man and the crowning glory of chariot-driving Cyrene; whom he of the flowing hair, even the son of Lété, erstwhile carried off from the windswept glens of Pélion, and bore away, a huntress maiden, in his golden car to the place where he made her queen of a land rich in flocks and in fruits, that so she might find her home in the fair and flourishing foundation of a third continent. And silver-footed Aphrodité welcomed the Delian guest, while, with light hand, she touched the car of workmanship divine, and shed a charming coyness on their union sweet, blending thus in bonds of mutual wedlock the god and the maiden-daughter of widely-ruling Hypseus. He was at that time king of the proud Lapithae, a hero second in descent from father Ocean, borne erstwhile by the daughter of Gaia, the Naiad Creüsa, who, in the famous glens of Pindus, had been the happy bride of the river-god Péneius. And Hypseus cherished his fair-armed
daughter, Cyrene ; she cared not for pacing to and fro before the loom, nor for merry banquets with stay-at-home maidens of her own age; but, contending with brazen darts and with the falchion, she would slay the fierce beasts of prey, thus in very deed assuring deep and perfect rest for her father’s kine, while she spent on her eyelids but a scanty store of that slumber which is so sweet a bed-fellow when dawn draweth near. Once did Apollo, the far-darting god of the wide quiver, find her without spears, wrestling alone with a monstrous lion! ; and forthwith he called Cheiron from out his halls and spake to him in this wise:— “Son of Philyra, leave thy hallowed cave and look with wonder at a woman’s spirit and mighty power. See what a contest she is waging with undaunted head,—this maiden with a heart which no toil can subdue, and a mind that no fear can overwhelm. From what mortal being was she born? From what race hath she been reft, that she should be dwelling in the hollows of the shadowy mountains? And she is putting to the test a strength that is inexhaustible. Is it right to lay an ennobling hand upon her? aye, and, by consorting with her, to cull the honey-sweet flower of love?”
Then did the inspired Centaur, softly smiling with kindly brow, at once unfold his counsel in reply :-— “Secret, O Phoebus! are the keys of wise Persuasion, that unlock the shrine of love ; and, among gods and men alike, do they shun to enter for the first time the sweet bridal-bed in the light of day. For thou, who canst not lawfully breathe a lie, hast been tempted by thy pleasant mood to dissemble in thy words. Dost thou ask, O king, of the maiden’s birth ? thou who knowest the end supreme of all things, and all the ways that lead thereto, the number of the leaves that the earth putteth forth in spring, the number of the sands that, in the sea and the rivers, are driven before the waves and the rushing winds, and that which is to be, and whence it is to come,— all this thou clearly seest. But, if I must measure myself against one that is wise, I needs must speak. Thou camest to this glade to be her wedded lord, and thou shalt bear her over the sea to the choicest garden of Zeus, where thou shalt make her queen of a city, when thou hast gathered the island-folk around the plain-encircled hill; and soon shall queen Libya amid her broad meadows give in golden palaces a kindly welcome to thy glorious bride. There shall that queen grant her forthwith a portion of the land to be her lawful domain, a portion not
without tribute of all manner of fruits, and not unfamiliar with the chase. There shall she bear a son, whom glorious Hermes shall take from his mother’s womb and bear away to the enthroned Hours and to Mother-Earth ; and they shall place the babe upon their laps, and drop nectar and ambrosia on his lips, and shall ordain that, as a delight to his friends among men, he shall be called immortal Zeus, and pure Apollo, and, as an ever-present guardian of flocks, Agreus and Nomius, while others shall name him Aristaeus.”’ So saying he prompted the god to accomplish the sweet fulfilment of wedlock. Swift is the achievement, short are the ways of gods, when bent on speed. That very day decided all, and they twain were made one in Libya’s golden chamber, where she guardeth a city that is fair indeed, and is famous in athlete-contests. And now hath the son of Carneiades crowned her with the flower of good fortune in hallowed Pytho, where, by his victory, he hath caused Cyrene to be proclaimed,—even her that shall give him a kindly welcome when he bringeth lovely fame from Delphi to his own land, the land of fair women. Great deeds of prowess are ever rich in legends, but the deft fashioning of a few themes among
many is what wise men love to hear.’ And all things alike have for their crown the fitting season, which, as seven-gated Thebes knew of old, was not disregarded by Iolaüs—that hero, who, when, with the edge of the sword, he had shorn off the head of Eurystheus, was buried beneath the earth beside the tomb of the charioteer Amphitryon, where rested his father’s father, the guest of the Sparti, having come to dwell in the streets of the Cadmeans, who ride on white horses. Wedded to Amphitryon and to Zeus, did the high-hearted Aleména bear at a single birth two children of victorious might. A dullard is he who doth not lend his tongue to sing of Heracles, and doth not remember for evermore the waters of Dircé that reared him and Iphicles, to both of whom, in fulfilment of a vow for the granting of their grace, I shall sing a triumph-song of praise. Let not the clear light of the voiceful Graces desert me! for I aver that I have already sung this city thrice at Aegina and by the hill of Nisus, having thus escaped in very deed the doom of helpless dumbness. Therefore, be a man friend or foe, let him not hide good work that is done for the common weal, and thus do wrong to the precept of the old man of
the sea, who bade us give praise that is hearty and fair, even to one’s foe. At the yearly rites of Pallas full often have the women seen thee after thy victory, and each, after their kind, have in silence prayed that they might have such a one as thee, Telesicrates, for their dear husband, or for their son; aye and also in the Olympian games, and in those of the deep-bosomed Earth, and in all other contests in thine own land. But, while I am quenching my thirst for song, there is one that exacteth an unpaid debt, and biddeth me once again awake the glory of thy forefathers of old, telling how, for the sake of a Libyan woman, they sped to Irasa as suitors for the famous fair-haired daughter of Antaeus,—even for her, whom many a brave kinsman was wooing and many a stranger too, since her form was a marvel to look upon; and they were eager to pluck the blooming fruit of Hébé of the golden crown. But her father, planning for her a nobler match, had heard how Danaüs in his day at Argos had found for his eight and forty daughters, ere noon came on them, a
speedy bridal; for, at once, he ranged the whole band of suitors at the limits of the lists, and bade them run a race to decide which of his daughters was to be won by the heroes who would fain be wedded to them. Such offer did the Libyan also make in wedding his daughter to a husband. He placed her at the goal, when he had arrayed her as the crowning prize, and in their midst he proclaimed that whoever was the first to leap forward and touch her robes in the race, should lead her to his home. There it was that Alexidimus, when he had outstripped the rest, took the noble maiden’s hand in his own, and led her through the host of Nomad horsemen. Many leaves did they fling upon him, and many a wreath, and many plumes of victory had he received before.
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