Speaker 1: Oh Hi, hello thereon, Welcome to another episode of Let's
Speaker 1: Talk About This Baby. Sometimes I just start laughing midway
Speaker 1: through because I don't love singing it, but I just
Speaker 1: also can't not and I know most of you like it,
Speaker 1: except for that really angry guy who left me. The
Speaker 1: review recently said it was obnoxious, like dud dude, I
Speaker 1: know it's obnoxious when I sing. I am not a singer.
Speaker 1: I am am Live your host who loves reading things aloud.
Speaker 1: This is another edition of liv Loves Reading Things Aloud.
Speaker 1: Don't ask me why reading things aloud fills me with
Speaker 1: such a true sense of joy that's possibly unmatched. That's
Speaker 1: a lie, but I do really love to do it now.
Speaker 1: Normally I would not be back so soon with a
Speaker 1: reading episode, but frankly, and I was just about to apologize,
Speaker 1: but I realized that it is both a Canadian thing
Speaker 1: and a you know, raised as a woman thing, But
Speaker 1: so I'm not going to but I was, you know,
Speaker 1: for the first first time in a long time, I
Speaker 1: was feeling really horribly this week because hormones are awful,
Speaker 1: and having a uterus can sometimes make me want to
Speaker 1: tear a man like orpheus apart. With my bare fucking hands,
Speaker 1: and so well, I just didn't have the ability to
Speaker 1: put together something more intricate than this. So here we
Speaker 1: fucking are so again, I'm not apologizing. This is the
Speaker 1: way it is. And yes, today's reading of ABBA's Metamorphoses
Speaker 1: does pick up with none other than the fucking death
Speaker 1: of Orpheus, torn to shreds by a bunch of angry women.
Speaker 1: Maybe some of them even had uteruses UTERI making them
Speaker 1: want to do it, Who knows. This is of its Metamorphoses,
Speaker 1: translated by Brooks Moore, Book eleven. While with his songs Orpheus,
Speaker 1: the Bard of Thrace, allured the trees, the savage animals,
Speaker 1: and even the insensate rocks to follow him, Caconian matrons,
Speaker 1: with their raving breasts concealed in skins of forest animals,
Speaker 1: from the summit of a hill observed him there a
Speaker 1: tuning love songs to a sounding harp. One of these women,
Speaker 1: as her tangled hair was tossed upon the light breeze, shouted, sea,
Speaker 1: here is the poet who has scorned our love. Then
Speaker 1: hurled her spear at the melodious mouth of Great Apollos. Barred,
Speaker 1: but the spear's point trailing in flight, a garland of
Speaker 1: fresh leaves made but a harmless bruise and wounded. Not
Speaker 1: the weapon of another was a stone, which, in the
Speaker 1: very air was overpowered by the true harmony of his
Speaker 1: voice and lyre, and so disabled, lay below his feet
Speaker 1: as asking pardon for that vain attempt. The madness of
Speaker 1: such warfare then increased. All moderation is entirely lost, and
Speaker 1: a wild fury overcomes the right. Although their weapons would
Speaker 1: have lost all forced subjected to the power of Orpheus's harp,
Speaker 1: the clamorous discord of their boxwood pipe apes, the blaring
Speaker 1: of their horns, their tambourines and clapping hands, and Bachnalian
Speaker 1: yells with hideous discours drowned his voice and harp. At last,
Speaker 1: the stones that heard his song no more fell Crimson
Speaker 1: with the Thracian poet's blood. Before his life was taken.
Speaker 1: The Manads turned their threatening hands upon the many birds
Speaker 1: which still were charmed by Orpheus as he sang the
Speaker 1: serpents and the company of beasts fabulous audience of that
Speaker 1: worshiped bard. And then they turned on him their blood
Speaker 1: stained hands, and flocked together swiftly as wild birds which
Speaker 1: by some chance may see the bird of night beneath
Speaker 1: the sun. And as the savage dogs rush on the
Speaker 1: doomed stag loosed some bright forenoon on blood sand of
Speaker 1: the amphitheater, they rushed against the bard with swift hurled thirsty,
Speaker 1: which adorned with emerald leaves, had not till then been
Speaker 1: used for cruelty. And some threw clods, and others branches
Speaker 1: torn from trees, and others threw flint stones at him,
Speaker 1: And that no lack of weapons might restrain their savage fury.
Speaker 1: Then not far from there, by chance they found some oxen,
Speaker 1: which turned up the soil with plowshares. And in fields
Speaker 1: nearby were strong armed peasants, who, with eager sweat worked
Speaker 1: for the harvest as they dug hard fields. And all
Speaker 1: those peasants, when they saw the troop of frantic women,
Speaker 1: ran away and left their implements of labor strewn upon
Speaker 1: the deserted fields, harrows and heavy rakes in their long spades.
Speaker 1: After the savage mob had seized upon those influence and
Speaker 1: torn to pieces oxen, armed with threatening horns, they hastened
Speaker 1: to destroy the harmless bard devoted orpheus, and with impious
Speaker 1: hate murdered him, while his outstretched hands implored their mercy.
Speaker 1: The first and only time his voice had no persuasion,
Speaker 1: Oh Great Jupiter, threw those same lips which had controlled
Speaker 1: the rocks, and which had overcome ferocious beasts. His life
Speaker 1: breathed forth departed in the air. The mournful birds, the
Speaker 1: stricken animals, the hard stones, and the weeping woods, All
Speaker 1: these that often had followed your inspiring voice bewailed your death.
Speaker 1: While trees dropped their green leaves, mourning for you, as
Speaker 1: if they tore their hair. They say. Sad rivers swelled
Speaker 1: with their own tears. Naiads and drayads, with disheveled hair,
Speaker 1: wore garments of dark color. His torn limbs were scattered
Speaker 1: in strange places. Hebris then received his head and harp
Speaker 1: and wonderful. While his loved harp was floating down the stream,
Speaker 1: it mourned for him, beyond my power to tell. His tongue,
Speaker 1: though lifeless, uttered a mournful sound and mournfully. The river's
Speaker 1: banks replied onward. Borne by the river to the sea,
Speaker 1: they left their native streams and reached the shore of
Speaker 1: Lesbos at Methymna. Instantly a furious serpent rose to attack
Speaker 1: the head of Orpheus cast up on that foreign sand,
Speaker 1: their hair still wet with spray. Phoebus at last appeared
Speaker 1: and saved the head from that attack. Before the serpent
Speaker 1: could inflict a sting, he drove it off and hardened
Speaker 1: its wide jaws to rigid stone. Meanwhile, the fleeting shade
Speaker 1: of Orpheus had descended under earth, remembering now those regions
Speaker 1: that he saw when there before he sought eurydicity through
Speaker 1: fields frequented by the blessed, and when he found her,
Speaker 1: folded her in his eager arms. Then lovingly they wandered
Speaker 1: side by side, or he would follow when she chose
Speaker 1: to lead, or at another time he walked in front,
Speaker 1: looking back safely at Iridaity. Bacchus would not permit the
Speaker 1: wickedness of those who slaughtered Orpheus to remain unpunished. Grieving
Speaker 1: for the loss of his loved Bard of sacred rites,
Speaker 1: at once he bound with twisted roots the feet of
Speaker 1: every one of those Edonian women who had caused the
Speaker 1: crime of Orpheus's death. Their toes grew long, he thrust
Speaker 1: the sharp points in the solid earth, as when a
Speaker 1: bird entangled in a snare hid by the cunning fowler
Speaker 1: knows too late that it is held, then vainly beats
Speaker 1: its wings, and fluttering only makes more tight than noose
Speaker 1: with every struggle. So each woman fiend, whose feet were
Speaker 1: sinking in the sand when she attempted flight, was held
Speaker 1: by deepening roots. And while she looked down where her
Speaker 1: toes and nails and feet should be, she sees wood
Speaker 1: growing up from them and covering all her graceful legs.
Speaker 1: Full of deliri grief. Endeavoring to smite with right hand
Speaker 1: on her changing thigh, she strikes on solid oak. Her
Speaker 1: tender breast and shoulders are transformed to rigid oak. You
Speaker 1: would declare that her extended arms are real branches of
Speaker 1: a forest tree, and such a thought would be the
Speaker 1: very truth. And not content with this, Bacchus resolved to
Speaker 1: leave that land, and with a worthier train, went to
Speaker 1: the vineyards of his own Tmolus and to Pactolus. Though
Speaker 1: that river was not golden nor admired for precious sands,
Speaker 1: His usual throng of satyrs and of bacchanals surrounded him,
Speaker 1: but not Silenus, who was then detained from him. The
Speaker 1: Phrygian folk had captured him as he was staggering faint
Speaker 1: with pulsied age and wine, and after they bound him
Speaker 1: in Garlands, they led him to their king Midas, to whom,
Speaker 1: with the Kecropian Emulpus Thracian Orpheus, had shown all the
Speaker 1: Bacchic right. When Midas recognized his old time friend Silenus,
Speaker 1: who had been so often his companion in the rights
Speaker 1: of Bacchus, he kept joyful festival with his old comrade
Speaker 1: twice five days and nights. Upon the eleventh day, when
Speaker 1: Lucifer had dimmed the lofty multitude of stars, King Midas
Speaker 1: and Silenus went from there, joyful together to the Lydean lands.
Speaker 1: There Midas put Silenus carefully under the care of his
Speaker 1: loved foster child, young Bacchus. He with great delight because
Speaker 1: he had his foster father once again allowed the king
Speaker 1: to choose his own reward. A welcome offer, but it
Speaker 1: led to harm, and Midas made this ill advised reply, CAUs,
Speaker 1: whatsoever I shall touch to change at once to yellow gold.
Speaker 1: Bacchus agreed to his unfortunate request with grief that Midas
Speaker 1: chose for harm and not for good. The Bearycanthian he Zero,
Speaker 1: King of Phrygia, with joy at his misfortune, went away
Speaker 1: and instantly began to test the worth of Bacchus's word
Speaker 1: by touching everything. Doubtful himself of his new power, he
Speaker 1: pulled a twig down from a whole milk growing on
Speaker 1: a low hung branch. The twig was turned to gold.
Speaker 1: He lifted up a dark stone from the ground, and
Speaker 1: it turned pale with gold. He touched a clod, and
Speaker 1: by his potent touched the clod became a mass of
Speaker 1: shining gold. He plucked some ripe, dry spears of grain,
Speaker 1: and all that wheat he touched was turned golden. Then
Speaker 1: he held an apple, which he gathered from a tree,
Speaker 1: and you would think that that Hesperites had given it.
Speaker 1: If he but touched a lofty door at once, each
Speaker 1: door post seemed to glisten. When he washed his hands
Speaker 1: in liquid streams, the lustrous drops upon his hands might
Speaker 1: have been those which once astonished Danna. He could not
Speaker 1: now conceive his large hopes in his grasping mind, as
Speaker 1: he imagined everything of gold. And while he was rejoicing
Speaker 1: in great wealth, his servants set a table for his
Speaker 1: meal with many dainties and with needful bread. But when
Speaker 1: he touched the gift of carries with his right hand,
Speaker 1: instantly the gift of carries stiffened to gold. Or if
Speaker 1: he tried to bite with hungry teeth a tender bit
Speaker 1: of meat the dainty as his teeth, but touched it
Speaker 1: shone at once with yellow shreds and flakes of gold
Speaker 1: and wine. Another gift of Bacchus, when he mixed it
Speaker 1: in pure water, can be seen in his astonished mouth
Speaker 1: as liquid gold. Confounded by his strange misfortune, rich and wretched,
Speaker 1: he was anxious to escape from his unhappy wealth. He
Speaker 1: hated all he had so lately longed for. Plenty could
Speaker 1: not lessen hunger, and no remedy relieved his dry, parched throat.
Speaker 1: The hated gold tormented him no more than he deserved.
Speaker 1: Lifting his hands and shining armor to heaven, he moaned, Oh,
Speaker 1: pardon me, father Linius, I have done wrong. But pity me,
Speaker 1: I pray and save me from this curse that looked
Speaker 1: so fair? How patient are the gods? Bachus forthwith, because
Speaker 1: King Midas had confessed his fault, restored him and annulled
Speaker 1: the promise given annulled the favor granted, and he said
Speaker 1: that you may not be always cased in gold, which
Speaker 1: you unhappily desired. Depart to the stream that flows by
Speaker 1: that great town of Sardis, and upward trace its waters
Speaker 1: as they glide past Lydean heights until you find their source. Then,
Speaker 1: where the spring leaps out from the mountain rock, plunge
Speaker 1: head and body in the snowy foam. At once the
Speaker 1: flood will take away your curse. King Midas did as
Speaker 1: he was told, and plunged beneath the water at the
Speaker 1: river's source, and the gold virtue granted by the god
Speaker 1: as it departed from his body, tinged the stream with gold,
Speaker 1: and even to this hour, adjoining fields touched by this
Speaker 1: ancient vein of gold are hardened where the river flows,
Speaker 1: and colored with the gold that Midas left. Abhorring riches,
Speaker 1: he inhabited the woods and fields and followed Pan, who
Speaker 1: dwells always in mountain caves, but still obtuse remained, from
Speaker 1: which his foolish mind, again by an absurd decision, harmed
Speaker 1: his life. He followed Pan up to the lofty Mount Molus,
Speaker 1: which from its great height, looks far across the sea
Speaker 1: steep and erect. It stands between great Sardis and the
Speaker 1: small high Papa. While Pan was boasting there to mountain
Speaker 1: nymphs of his great scale in music, and while he
Speaker 1: was warbling a gay tune upon the reeds, cemented with
Speaker 1: soft wax in his conceit, he dared to boast to
Speaker 1: them how he despised Apollo's music when compared with his.
Speaker 1: At last, to prove it, he agreed to stand against
Speaker 1: Apollo in a contest which it was agreed, should be
Speaker 1: decided by Tmolus as their umpire. This old god sat
Speaker 1: down on his own mountain and first eased his ears
Speaker 1: of many mountain growing trees. Oak leaves were wreathed upon
Speaker 1: his azure hair, and acorns from his hollow temples. Hung
Speaker 1: first to the shepherd god, Tmolus spoke, my judgment shall
Speaker 1: be yours. With no delay, Pan made some rustic sounds
Speaker 1: on his rough reeds, delighting Midas with his uncouth notes,
Speaker 1: for Midas chanced to be there when he played. When
Speaker 1: Pan had ceased, divined, Mollus turned to Phoebus, and the
Speaker 1: forest likewise turned just as he moved. Apollo's golden locks
Speaker 1: were richly wreathed with fresh Parnassian laurel, his robe of
Speaker 1: tyri and purple swept the ground. His left hand held
Speaker 1: his lyre, adorned with gems in Indian ivory. His right
Speaker 1: hand held the plectrum. As an artist, he stood there
Speaker 1: before Tmolus while his skillful thumb touching the strings made
Speaker 1: charming melody. Delighted with Apollo's artful touch, Tmolus ordered pan
Speaker 1: to hold his reeds. Excelled by beauty of Apollo's lyre.
Speaker 1: That judgment of the Sacred Mountain God pleased all those present,
Speaker 1: all but Midas, who, blaming Tmolus, called the award unjust.
Speaker 1: The Delian god forbids his stupid ears to hold their
Speaker 1: native human shape, and drawing them out to a hideous length,
Speaker 1: he fills them with gray hairs and makes them both unsteady,
Speaker 1: wagging at the lower part, still human, only this one
Speaker 1: part condemned. Midas had ears of a slow moving ass. Midas,
Speaker 1: careful to hide his long ears, wore a purple head
Speaker 1: rap over both, which hid his foul disgrace from laughter.
Speaker 1: But one day a servant who was chosen to cut
Speaker 1: his hair with steel when it was long, saw his disgrace.
Speaker 1: He did not dare reveal what he had seen, but,
Speaker 1: eager to disclose the secret, dug a shallow hole, and
Speaker 1: in a low voice told what kind of ears were
Speaker 1: on his master's head. All this he whispered into the
Speaker 1: hollow earth he dug, and then he buried all he
Speaker 1: said by throwing back the loose earth in the hole,
Speaker 1: so everything was silent. When he left. A grove thick
Speaker 1: set with quivering reeds began to grow there, and when
Speaker 1: it matured about twelve months after the servant left, the
Speaker 1: grove betrayed its planter, for moved by a gentle south wind,
Speaker 1: it repeated all the words which he had whispered, and
Speaker 1: disclosed from earth the secret of his master's ears. His
Speaker 1: vengeance now complete, Latona's son borne through the liquid air,
Speaker 1: departed from Tmolus, and then rested on the land of
Speaker 1: Laomadon this side the narrow sea dividing Phrygia from the
Speaker 1: land of Thrace, the promontory of Signs, and on the
Speaker 1: left Rhetiem loftily arose, and at that place an ancient
Speaker 1: altar had been dedicated to Great Jove, the god Panophion,
Speaker 1: And near that place he saw Lamadon beginning then to
Speaker 1: build the walls of Famous Troy. He was convinced the
Speaker 1: task exceeded all the power of man. Requiring great resource.
Speaker 1: Together with the trident bearing father of the Deep, he
Speaker 1: assumed a mortal form, and those two gods agreed to
Speaker 1: labor for a sum of gold and built the mighty wall.
Speaker 1: But that false king refused all payment, adding perjury to
Speaker 1: his false bargaining. Neptune enraged, said you shall not escape
Speaker 1: your punishment, and he drove all his waters high upon
Speaker 1: the shores of Troy, built there enough perfidity. The sad
Speaker 1: land seemed to see. The hard earned wealth of all
Speaker 1: its farmers was destroyed and overwhelmed by fear curious waves.
Speaker 1: This awful punishment was not enough. The daughter of the
Speaker 1: king was soon required as food for a theme monster.
Speaker 1: Hesione was chained to rugged rocks, but Hercules delivered from
Speaker 1: all harm the royal maid, and justly he demanded of
Speaker 1: the king her father payment of his promised steeds, but
Speaker 1: that perfidious king refused to keep his promise. Hercules, enraged
Speaker 1: because all payment was denied to him for his great service,
Speaker 1: captured the twice perjured walls of conquered Troy, and as
Speaker 1: a fair reward he gave to Telamon, who fought for him.
Speaker 1: Hesione loved daughter of that king, for Pelias had a
Speaker 1: goddess as his bride, and he was prouder of his
Speaker 1: father in law than of his grandsire, since not he
Speaker 1: alone was grandson of great Jove, but he alone was
Speaker 1: honored with a goddess for a wife to Thedus aged
Speaker 1: Proteus once had said, O, Goddess of the waves, you
Speaker 1: shall conceive, and you shall be the mother of a
Speaker 1: youth who, by heroic actions, will surpass the deeds of
Speaker 1: his own father, and your son shall be superior to
Speaker 1: his father's power. So Jupiter, although the flame of love
Speaker 1: for Thedis burned, his breast, would not embrace the lovely
Speaker 1: daughter of the sea, and urged his grandson, Pellias, son Ofviacus,
Speaker 1: to wed the green haired maid without delight. There is
Speaker 1: a curved bay of Hemonia, where like an arch, two
Speaker 1: bending arms project out of the waves, as if to
Speaker 1: form a harbor. But the water is not deep. Although
Speaker 1: enough to hide a shoal of sand, it has a
Speaker 1: firm shore which will not retain a foot's impression nor
Speaker 1: delay the step. No seaweeds grow in that vicinity. There
Speaker 1: is a grove of myrtle near that place, thick hung
Speaker 1: with berries blended of twin shades. A cave within the
Speaker 1: middle of that grove is found, and whether it was
Speaker 1: formed by art or nature is not known, although it
Speaker 1: seems a work of art. There Thedus often went quite naked,
Speaker 1: seated on her dolphin, which was harnessed. Pelias seized her
Speaker 1: there when she was fast asleep, and after he had
Speaker 1: tried to win her by entreaties, while she long continued
Speaker 1: to resist him, he resolved to conquer her by violence
Speaker 1: and seized her neck with both arms. She resorted then
Speaker 1: to all her usual art, and often changed her shape,
Speaker 1: as it was known, so that he failed in his attempt.
Speaker 1: At first she was a bird, but while she seemed
Speaker 1: a bird, he held her fast, And then she changed
Speaker 1: herself to a large tree, and Pelias clung with ardor
Speaker 1: to the tree. Her third disguise was as a spotted tigris,
Speaker 1: which frightened him so that he lost his hold. Then,
Speaker 1: as he poured wine on the heathening sea, he prayed
Speaker 1: unto the sea green gods and gave them sacrifice of
Speaker 1: sheep entrails and smoke of frankincense. He ceased not till
Speaker 1: at last. The prophet of Carpathia, as he rose up
Speaker 1: from a deep wave, said, heark unto me, O, son
Speaker 1: of Aachis, And you shall have the bride your heart desires,
Speaker 1: when she at rest lies sleeping in the cool wave.
Speaker 1: You must bind her while she is unwary, with strong
Speaker 1: cords and complicated bonds. And never let her ear deceive
Speaker 1: you when she imitates a hundred varied forms. But hold
Speaker 1: her fast whatever she may seem, until she shall at
Speaker 1: length assume the shape she had at first. So Proteus
Speaker 1: cautioned him and hid his face beneath the waves as
Speaker 1: his last words were said. Now Titan was descending in
Speaker 1: the pole of his bright chariot. As it downward bent
Speaker 1: illuminated Thesparian Mane, and at that time the lovely and
Speaker 1: areat Thetis, departing from her ocean waves, entered the cavern
Speaker 1: for desired repose. Pelias was waiting there immediately just as
Speaker 1: he seized upon the virgin's limbs. She changed her shape
Speaker 1: and persevered until convinced she could not overcome his hold.
Speaker 1: For her two arms were forced apart. She groaned and said,
Speaker 1: you could not overcome me in this way, but some
Speaker 1: divinity has given you the power. Then she appeared as Thetis,
Speaker 1: and when Pelias saw her, now deprived of all deceptions,
Speaker 1: he embraced her and was father of the great Achilles.
Speaker 1: Great Pelias's heart was filled with happiness because of his
Speaker 1: great son and Thedus, his dear wife. He was blessed
Speaker 1: in everything, except in killing Phocus. The Trachinian land received
Speaker 1: him guilty of his brother's blood. When he fled banished
Speaker 1: from his native home. Bear Cakes, who had the fine
Speaker 1: countenance of Lucifer as his father, reigned as king without
Speaker 1: the cost of violence or blood. Before this time, his
Speaker 1: days had always given him joy and comfort, but all
Speaker 1: now was changed, for he was mourning a loved brother's death. Pelias,
Speaker 1: out wearied with his journey's length, left his fine flock
Speaker 1: of sheep and all the herds he had brought with him.
Speaker 1: Not far from the walls of that city where Cake
Speaker 1: slong had reigned, he entered with an olive branch, all
Speaker 1: swathed in woolen phillots symbol of goodwill, and with a
Speaker 1: suppliant hand, disclosed his name, he told the monarch, who
Speaker 1: he was also his father's name. But he concealed his crime,
Speaker 1: giving untruthful reasons for his flight, and begged a refuge,
Speaker 1: either in town or field. The King of Trachin answered
Speaker 1: with kind words, Ah, Pelias, even the lowest ranks enjoy
Speaker 1: our bounties and our hospitality, And you bring with you
Speaker 1: powers which compel attention and respect. Your name is so illustrious,
Speaker 1: and is not Jupiter, your grandfather. Do not lose your
Speaker 1: time by such entreaties. Everything you may desire is yours
Speaker 1: as soon as known, and all you see is partly yours.
Speaker 1: But in how sad a state? And then he wept.
Speaker 1: When Pelias and his friends asked him the reason of
Speaker 1: his grief, he said, perchance you deem that bird which
Speaker 1: lives on prey, which is the terror of all other birds,
Speaker 1: had always feathered wings. It was a man, and now
Speaker 1: the vigor of its courage is as great as when
Speaker 1: well known by his man's name day Dallian bold in
Speaker 1: wars and strong and harsh, and not afraid to hazard violence.
Speaker 1: His father was unequaled Lucifer, star of the Mourning, who
Speaker 1: at dawn brings forth Aurora and withdraws the last of
Speaker 1: all the shining stars of heaven. My brother, named Da Dallian,
Speaker 1: son of that great star, was fond of cruel warfare,
Speaker 1: while I cherished peace and loved the quiet of my
Speaker 1: married life. This brother, powerful in the art of war,
Speaker 1: subdued strong kings and nations, and as he transformed from manhood,
Speaker 1: now a bird of prey that so relentlessly pursues the
Speaker 1: doves known as the pride of thisbee's citizens. My brother
Speaker 1: had a daughter, ke Andy, so beautiful she pleased a
Speaker 1: thousand men. When she had reached the marriageable age of
Speaker 1: twice seven years. It happened by some chance that Phoebus
Speaker 1: and the son of Maya, who returned one from his
Speaker 1: Delphi the other from Caillini's heights, beheld this lovely maid
Speaker 1: both at the same time, and were both inflamed with passion.
Speaker 1: Phoebus waited until the night Hermes could not endure the delay,
Speaker 1: and with the magic of his wand that causes sleep,
Speaker 1: he touched the virgin's face, and instantly, as if entranced,
Speaker 1: she lay there fast asleep and suffered violence from the
Speaker 1: ardent God. When night bespangled the wide heaven with stars,
Speaker 1: Phoebus became an aged crone and gained the joy he
Speaker 1: had deferred until that hour, when her mature womb had
Speaker 1: completed time. Autilicus was born, a crafty son who certainly
Speaker 1: inherited the s gill of Wingfoot Mercury, his artful sire,
Speaker 1: notorious now for every kind of theft. In fact, Ontilicus,
Speaker 1: with Mercury's craft, loved to make white of black and
Speaker 1: black of white. But Phoebus's child, for he and he
Speaker 1: bore twins, was named Philammon, with like his sire, well
Speaker 1: known to all men the beauty of his song, and
Speaker 1: famous for his handling of the lyre. What benefit in
Speaker 1: life did she obtain because she pleased to gods and
Speaker 1: bore such twins? Was she blessed by good fortune? Then?
Speaker 1: Because she was the daughter of a valiant father, and
Speaker 1: even the grandchild of the morning Star. Can glory be
Speaker 1: a curse? Often? It is, and surely it was so
Speaker 1: for he and e. It was a prejudice that harmed
Speaker 1: her days because she vaunted that she did surpass Diana's beauty,
Speaker 1: and to cried her charms. The Goddess in hot anger
Speaker 1: answered her sarcas if my face cannot give satisfaction. Let
Speaker 1: me try my deeds without delay. Diana bent her bow,
Speaker 1: and from the string an arrow swiftly flew and pierced
Speaker 1: the vaunting tongue of kee Andy. Her tongue was silenced,
Speaker 1: and she tried in vain to speak or make a sound.
Speaker 1: And while she tried, her life departed with the flowing
Speaker 1: blood embracing her. I shared her father's grief. I spoke
Speaker 1: consoling words to my dear brother. He heard them as
Speaker 1: a cliff might hear the wind, and he lamented bitterly
Speaker 1: the loss of his dear daughter snatched away from him. Ah.
Speaker 1: When he saw her burning, he was filled with such
Speaker 1: an uncontrolled despair. He rushed four times to leap upon
Speaker 1: the blazing pyre, And after he had been four times repulsed,
Speaker 1: he turned and rushed away in headlong flight through trackless country,
Speaker 1: as a bullock flees, his swollen neck pierced with sharp horns,
Speaker 1: it stings. It seemed to me he ran beyond the
Speaker 1: speed of any human being. He would think his feet
Speaker 1: had taken wings. He left us far behind, and swift
Speaker 1: in his desire for death. He stood at last upon
Speaker 1: Parnassus's height Apollo pitied him, and when Dadalian leaped over
Speaker 1: the steep cliff, Apollo's power transformed him to a bird
Speaker 1: supported him while he was hovering in the air upon
Speaker 1: uncertain wings of such a sudden growth. Apollo also gave
Speaker 1: to him a curved beak, and to his slender toes
Speaker 1: gave crooked claws. His former courage still remains, with strength
Speaker 1: greater than usual in birds. He changed to a fierce hawk,
Speaker 1: cruel to all. He vents his rage on other birds,
Speaker 1: grieving himself. He is a cause of grief to all
Speaker 1: his kind. While Cakes, this royal son of Lucifer, told
Speaker 1: these great wonders of his brother's life Onnitor, who had
Speaker 1: watched the while those herds which Pelias had assigned to him,
Speaker 1: ran up with panting speed, and cried out as he
Speaker 1: ran Pellias, Pellias, I bring you dreadful news. Pelias asked
Speaker 1: him to tell what had gone wrong, and with King Cakes,
Speaker 1: he listened in suspense. I drove the weary bullocks to
Speaker 1: the shore on a tour, then began about the time
Speaker 1: when the high burning sun in middle course could look
Speaker 1: back on as much as might be seen remaining, and
Speaker 1: some cattle had then bent their knees on yellow sand,
Speaker 1: and as they lay might view the expanse of water
Speaker 1: stretched beyond. Some with slow steps were wandering here and there,
Speaker 1: and others swimming stretched their lofty necks above the waves.
Speaker 1: A temple near that sea was fair to view, Although
Speaker 1: twas not adorned with gold nor marble, it was richly
Speaker 1: made of beams and shaded with an ancient grove. A sailor,
Speaker 1: while he dried his nets upon the shore nearby, declared
Speaker 1: that aged Nereus pause zest it with his nereids, as
Speaker 1: the god who ruled the neighboring waters. Very near it
Speaker 1: is a marsh made by the encroaching waves, all thickly
Speaker 1: covered with low willow trees. From there a loud, uncanny
Speaker 1: crashing sound. Alarmed in the neighborhood a monster wolf, all
Speaker 1: stained with mud. He breaks forth from the marsh, his
Speaker 1: thundering jaws thick covered with vile foam and clotted blood,
Speaker 1: his fierce eyes flashing flames of crimson. And though he
Speaker 1: was raging both with fury and with hunger, the true
Speaker 1: cause of his fierce passions was ferocity. He never paused
Speaker 1: to sate his ravenous hunger with the first cattle that
Speaker 1: he fell upon, but mangled the whole herd as if
Speaker 1: it wore, And some of us, while we defended him,
Speaker 1: were wounded with his fatal bite and killed. The shore
Speaker 1: and nearest waves were red with blood, and marshy fens
Speaker 1: were filled with mourn sounds the longing of our cattle.
Speaker 1: This delay is dangerous. We must not hesitate. We must
Speaker 1: unite before all is destroyed. Take up your arms, arms
Speaker 1: and unite, I say, and bear our weapons for the
Speaker 1: cause of right. So spoke the countryman. And yet the
Speaker 1: loss had no effect on Pelias, though severe, for he,
Speaker 1: remembering his red crime, believed the Nereid had given him
Speaker 1: that loss a just misfortune as an offering to departed focus.
Speaker 1: After this, King cakes, while he put his armor on,
Speaker 1: ordered his men to arm themselves with their best weapons
Speaker 1: and to follow his command. But his fond wife Halcione,
Speaker 1: aroused by such a tumult, ran to him in haste,
Speaker 1: in such haste that her hair was still unfinished, and
Speaker 1: such as had been done, she threw in wild disorder.
Speaker 1: Clinging to the neck of her loved husband, she entreated
Speaker 1: him with words and tears to send his men along,
Speaker 1: but keep himself at home, and so to save two
Speaker 1: lives in one. But Pelias said, O, Queen, tis sweet
Speaker 1: and commendable in you to fear, but needless, though you
Speaker 1: promised generous aid, My hope lies not in fighting with
Speaker 1: the beast. I must appease a goddess of the sea,
Speaker 1: and the divinity of ocean must be properly adored. A
Speaker 1: lofty tower is near there, and upon its extreme height
Speaker 1: a signal fire is burning night and day, known to
Speaker 1: the grateful ships. They all went there, and from its
Speaker 1: summit they beheld with sighs. The mangled cattle scattered on
Speaker 1: the shore, and saw the ravager among the herd, his
Speaker 1: blood stained jaws and long hair dripping blood. Then Pelias
Speaker 1: stretched his arms toward the sea, and he implored the
Speaker 1: azure Psamanthe to lay aside her wrath and give him aid.
Speaker 1: But she was deaf to any word of Pelias entreating her,
Speaker 1: and would not offer aid till Fadus, interceding on behalf
Speaker 1: of her afflicted husband, moved her will. The monster wolf
Speaker 1: persisted in his rage even when the sea nymph bade
Speaker 1: him turn aside. His keen ferocity increased by taste of
Speaker 1: new sweet blood til ps Matthi, while he was seizing
Speaker 1: the last mangled heifer's neck, transformed him to hard marble.
Speaker 1: Every part of that ferocious monster's shape remained, but it
Speaker 1: was changed to marble colored stone, which showed the monster
Speaker 1: was no more a wolf and should no longer be
Speaker 1: a cause of fear. But still the guiding fates did
Speaker 1: not permit the banished Pelias to continue there in this land,
Speaker 1: governed by the friendly king. A wandering exile, he proceeded
Speaker 1: north to Magnesia and was purified of guilt by King
Speaker 1: Acastus of that land. King Cakes, disturbed by his loved
Speaker 1: brother's fate and prodigies which happened since that time, prepared
Speaker 1: to venture to the Clarion God, that he might there
Speaker 1: consult the oracle so sanctified to consolation of distress. For
Speaker 1: then the way to Delphi was unsafe because of Phoebus
Speaker 1: and his Phlegians. Before he went, he told his faithful queen,
Speaker 1: his dear Halci own she felt at once terror creep
Speaker 1: through the marrow of her bones. Pallor of boxwood overspread
Speaker 1: her face, and her two cheeks were wet with gushing tears.
Speaker 1: Three times she tried to speak, while tears and sobs
Speaker 1: delayed her voice, until at last she said, fault of mine,
Speaker 1: my dearest, has so changed your usual thoughts. Where is
Speaker 1: that care for me that always had stood first? Can
Speaker 1: you leave me for this long journey with no anxious fear,
Speaker 1: halcion forsaken in these halls? Will this long journey be
Speaker 1: a pleasant change, because far from you I should be
Speaker 1: more dear. Perhaps you think you will go there by land,
Speaker 1: and I shall only grieve and shall not fear. The
Speaker 1: sea affrights me with its tragic face. Just lately I
Speaker 1: observed some broken planks upon our seashore, and I've read
Speaker 1: and read the names of seamen on their empty tombs.
Speaker 1: No let no false assurance fill your mind, because your
Speaker 1: father in Laziolus, who in a dungeon, shuts the stormful
Speaker 1: winds and smooths at will the troubled ocean waves. Soon
Speaker 1: as the winds get freedom from his power, they take
Speaker 1: entire possession of the deep, and nothing is forbidden their attack,
Speaker 1: and all the rights of every land and sea are
Speaker 1: disregarded by them. They insult even the clouds of heaven,
Speaker 1: and their wild concussion urged the lightnings to strike fires
Speaker 1: the more I know of them, for I knew them
Speaker 1: in my childhood, and I often saw them from my
Speaker 1: father's home, the more I fear. But, oh, dear husband,
Speaker 1: if this new resolve cannot be altered by my prayers
Speaker 1: and fears, and if you are determined take me too,
Speaker 1: some comfort may be gained. If in the storms we
Speaker 1: may be tossed together, I shall fear only the ills
Speaker 1: that really come to us. Together we can certainly endure
Speaker 1: discomforts till we gain that distant land. Such words and
Speaker 1: tears of the daughter of Eolus gave Kaike's famed son
Speaker 1: of the Morning Star so much thought and sorrow, for
Speaker 1: the flame of love burned in his heart as strongly
Speaker 1: as in hers. Reluctant to give up the voyage even
Speaker 1: more to make Helcioni's partner on the dangerous see, he
Speaker 1: answered her complaints in many ways to pacify her breast,
Speaker 1: but could not comfort her until at last he said,
Speaker 1: this separation from your love will be most sorrowful, and
Speaker 1: I so swear to you, as witnessed by the sacred
Speaker 1: fire of my star father, if the fates permit my
Speaker 1: safe return, I will come back to you before the
Speaker 1: moon has rounded twice her orb. These promises gave hope
Speaker 1: of his return without delay. He ordered a ship should
Speaker 1: be drawn forth from the dock, launched in the sea,
Speaker 1: and properly supplied against the needs of travel. Seeing this, Halcione,
Speaker 1: as if aware of future woe, shuddered, wept and embraced him,
Speaker 1: and an extreme woe said with a sad voice a farewell.
Speaker 1: And then her nerveless body sank down to the ground.
Speaker 1: While cakes longed for some pretext to delay, the youthful
Speaker 1: oarsmen chosen for their strength in double rows, began to
Speaker 1: draw the oars back toward their hardy breasts, cutting the
Speaker 1: waves with equal strokes. She raised her weeping eyes and
Speaker 1: saw her husband on the high curved stern. He, by
Speaker 1: his wave hand made signs to her, and she returned
Speaker 1: his signals. Then the ship moved farther from the shore,
Speaker 1: until her eyes could not distinguish his loved countenance. Still,
Speaker 1: while she could, she followed with her gaze the fading hull,
Speaker 1: and when that too was lost far in the distance,
Speaker 1: she remained and gazed at the white topsails waving from
Speaker 1: the mast. But when she could no longer see the
Speaker 1: sails with anxious heart. She sought her lonely couch and
Speaker 1: laid herself upon it. Couch and room renewed her sorrow
Speaker 1: and reminded her how much of life was absent on
Speaker 1: the sea. The ship had left the harbor, and the
Speaker 1: breeze shook the taut rigging. Now the captain bade the
Speaker 1: idle oars to be drawn up to the sides. They
Speaker 1: ran the pointed sail yards up the mast, and with
Speaker 1: spread canvas, caught the coming breeze. Perhaps the ship had
Speaker 1: not sailed half her course on every eastside, the land
Speaker 1: was out of sight, in fact, at a great distance.
Speaker 1: When towards dark, the sea grew white with its increasing waves,
Speaker 1: while boisterous east winds blew with violence. Prompt in his duty,
Speaker 1: the captain warns his crew. Lower the top sails, quick,
Speaker 1: furl all the sails tight to the yards, he ordered,
Speaker 1: But the storm bore all his words away. His voice
Speaker 1: could not be heard above the roaring of the sea.
Speaker 1: But of their own accord, some sailors rushed to draw
Speaker 1: the oars, others to secure the sides from danger, and
Speaker 1: some strove to pull the sails down from the wind.
Speaker 1: One pumps the waves up from the hold and pours
Speaker 1: the rushing sea again into the sea. Another takes the
Speaker 1: yards off. While such things are being done without command
Speaker 1: or order, the wild storm increases, and on every side
Speaker 1: fierce winds wage a destructive warfare which stirs up the
Speaker 1: furious waters to their utmost power. Even the captain, terrified,
Speaker 1: confessed he did not know the status of the ship,
Speaker 1: and could not order nor forbid the men, so great
Speaker 1: the storm so far beyond his skill. Then he gave
Speaker 1: up control. While frightened men shouted above, the rattled corded
Speaker 1: shocks and heavy waves were dashed against huge waves, and
Speaker 1: all the sky reverberated with terrific thunders. The deep sea
Speaker 1: upturned tremendous billows, which appeared to reach so near the heaven.
Speaker 1: They touched the heavy clouds with foam of their tossed waters.
Speaker 1: At one time, while the great billows churned up yellow
Speaker 1: sand from off the bottom, the wild rolling waves were
Speaker 1: of that color. At another time they were more black
Speaker 1: than water of the sticks. Sometimes they leveled white with
Speaker 1: lashing foam. The ship was tossed about in the wild
Speaker 1: storm aloft as from a mountain peak. It seemed to
Speaker 1: look down on the valley and the depth of achron,
Speaker 1: And when sunk down in a trough of waves engulfing
Speaker 1: it appeared to look up at the zenith from infernal seas.
Speaker 1: Often the waves fell on the sides with a crash
Speaker 1: as terrible as when a flying stone or iron ram
Speaker 1: shatters a citadel, as lions, mustering up their strength anew
Speaker 1: might hurl their breasts against the spears and outstretched arms
Speaker 1: of huntsmen. So the waves, upon the rising of the winds,
Speaker 1: rushed forth against the battered sides of the tossed ship,
Speaker 1: and rose much higher than the slanting masts. The ship
Speaker 1: bolts lost their grip. The loosened planks, despoiled of covering wax,
Speaker 1: gave open seams through which streamed water. Of the fatal waves.
Speaker 1: Vast sheets of rain pour from dissolving clouds, so suddenly
Speaker 1: it seemed that all the heavens were flung into the deep,
Speaker 1: while swelling seas ascended to the emptied fields of heaven.
Speaker 1: The sails are drenched with rain, the salt waves are
Speaker 1: mingled with the waters of the skies. The firmament is
Speaker 1: black without a star, and night is doubly dark with
Speaker 1: its own gloom, and blackness of the storm. Quick lightning
Speaker 1: makes the black skies glitter, and the waves are fired
Speaker 1: with flames of thunderbolts. Now floods leap up into the
Speaker 1: very middle of the ship. Just as a soldier more
Speaker 1: courageous than the rest of his brave fellows, after he
Speaker 1: is often charged against the battled walls of a defended city,
Speaker 1: gains at length the place which he has fought for.
Speaker 1: All inflamed with his desire glory, scales the walls and
Speaker 1: stands alone among a thousand foes. So when destructive waves
Speaker 1: have beat against the ship's high sides, the tenth wave,
Speaker 1: with known power, rushes more furious than the nine before,
Speaker 1: nor ceases to attack the falling ship, until dashed high
Speaker 1: above the captured walls, it surges in the hold. Part
Speaker 1: of the sea is still attempting to get in the ship,
Speaker 1: and part is in it. All are panic stricken, like
Speaker 1: men within a doomed and shaken town, who see some
Speaker 1: foes attack the walls without and others hold possession of
Speaker 1: the walls. Within the city, every art has failed, their
Speaker 1: courage sinks with every coming wave, another death seems rushing
Speaker 1: in upon them. One sailor yields in tears. Another falls
Speaker 1: down stupefied. Another calls those blessed whom funeral rites await.
Speaker 1: Another praise, addressing trusted gods, lifting his hands up to
Speaker 1: that heaven unseen as vainly he implores some aid divine,
Speaker 1: And one in fright recalls his brothers and his parent,
Speaker 1: while another names his children and his home. Each frightened
Speaker 1: sailor thinks of all he left. King Cakes thinks only
Speaker 1: of Halcion. No other name is on his lips but hers,
Speaker 1: And though he longs for her, yet he is glad
Speaker 1: that she is safe at home. Ah. How he tried
Speaker 1: to look back to the shore of his loved land,
Speaker 1: to turn his last gaze towards his wife and home,
Speaker 1: but he's lost direction. The tossed sea is raging in
Speaker 1: a hurricane so vast, and all the sky is hidden
Speaker 1: by the gloom of thickened storm clouds doubled in pitch black.
Speaker 1: The mast is shattered by the violence of drenching tempests,
Speaker 1: and the useless helm is broken. One undaunted giant wave
Speaker 1: stands over wreck and spoil, and looks down like a
Speaker 1: conqueror upon the other waves, then falls as heavily as
Speaker 1: if some God should hurl Mount Athos or Mount Pindused
Speaker 1: torn from rock foundations into the wide sea. So with
Speaker 1: down rushing weight and violence it struck and plunged the
Speaker 1: ship to the lowest depths. And as the ship sank,
Speaker 1: many of the crew sank, overwhelmed in deep surrounding water,
Speaker 1: never to rise from suffocating death. But some, in desperation
Speaker 1: clung for life to broken timbers and escaped that fate.
Speaker 1: King Kaikes clung to a fragment of the wreck with
Speaker 1: that majestic hand which often before had proudly swayed the scepter,
Speaker 1: and in vain alas he called upon his father's name,
Speaker 1: alas he begged his father in law's support. But while
Speaker 1: he swam, his lips most frequently pronounced that dearest name, Halcione.
Speaker 1: He longs to have his body carried by waves to
Speaker 1: her dear gaze, and have at last entombment by the
Speaker 1: hands of his loved friends. Swimming he called Halcione far off,
Speaker 1: as often as the bellows would allow his lips to open,
Speaker 1: And among the waves, his darling's name was murmured, till
Speaker 1: at last a night black arch of water swept above
Speaker 1: the highest waves and buried him beneath engulfing billows. Lucifer
Speaker 1: was dim past recognition when the dawn appeared, and since
Speaker 1: he never could depart from heaven, soon hid his grieving
Speaker 1: countenance in clouds. Meanwhile, Halcione, all unaware of his sad wreck,
Speaker 1: counts off the passing nights and hastens to prepare for
Speaker 1: him his clothes that he may wear as soon as
Speaker 1: he returns to her. And she is using what to
Speaker 1: wear herself, and vainly promises his safe return. All this indeed,
Speaker 1: while she is hallowed, prayer is giving frankinsense to please
Speaker 1: the gods. And first of loving adorations she paid at
Speaker 1: a shrine to Juno. There she prayed for cakes after
Speaker 1: he had suffered death, that he might journey safely in
Speaker 1: return and might love her above all other women. This
Speaker 1: one last prayer alone was granted to her, but Juno
Speaker 1: could not long accept as hers these supplications on behalf
Speaker 1: of one then dead, and that she might persuade Halcione
Speaker 1: to turn her death polluted hands away from hallowed altars.
Speaker 1: Juno said, in haste, oh Iris, best of all my messengers,
Speaker 1: go quickly to the dreadful court of sleep, and in
Speaker 1: my name, command him to dispatch a dream in the
Speaker 1: shape of cakes who is dead, and tell Halcione the
Speaker 1: woeful truth. So she commanded. Iris instantly assumed a garment
Speaker 1: of a thousand tints, and she marked the high skies
Speaker 1: with her arch went swiftly, thence as ordered to the
Speaker 1: place where sleep was then concealed. Beneath a rock near
Speaker 1: the Chimerian land, there is a cave with a long
Speaker 1: entrance in a hallowed mountain, the home of slothful sleep.
Speaker 1: To that dark cave, the sun, when rising or in
Speaker 1: middle skies or setting, never can approach with light. There,
Speaker 1: dense fogs mingled with the dark, exhaled darkness from the
Speaker 1: black soil, and all that place is shadowed in a deep,
Speaker 1: mysterious gloom. No wakeful bird with visage crested high calls
Speaker 1: forth the morning's beauty and clear notes. Nor do the
Speaker 1: watchful dogs, more watchful geese, nor wat while beasts cattle,
Speaker 1: nor the waving trees make sound or whisper. And the
Speaker 1: human voice is never heard there. Silent rest is there,
Speaker 1: but from the bottom of a rock beneath Lethian waters
Speaker 1: of a stream, oo's forth sounds of a rivulet which
Speaker 1: trickle with soft murmuring amid the pebbles, and invite soft
Speaker 1: sleep before the cavern door's most fertile poppies, and a
Speaker 1: wealth of herbs bloom in abundance from the juice of
Speaker 1: which the humid night hours gather asleep and spread it
Speaker 1: over darkened earth. No door is in that cavern home,
Speaker 1: and not a hinge, as noise nor guarding porter's voice
Speaker 1: disturbs the calm. But in the middle is a resting
Speaker 1: couch raised high on night, black ebony and soft with
Speaker 1: feathered cushions, all jet black, concealed by a rich coverlet
Speaker 1: as dark as night, on which the God of Sleep,
Speaker 1: dissolved in sloth, lies with unmoving limbs around him. There
Speaker 1: in all directions, unsubstantial dreams recline in imitation, all shapes,
Speaker 1: as many as the uncounted ears of corn at harvest,
Speaker 1: as the myriad leaves of trees or tiny sand grains
Speaker 1: spread upon the shore. As soon as Iris entered that
Speaker 1: dread gloom, she pushed aside the visions in her way
Speaker 1: with her fair, glowing hands, and instantly that sacred cavern
Speaker 1: of the God of Sleep was all illuminated with the
Speaker 1: glow and splendor of her garment out of himself. The god,
Speaker 1: with difficulty lifted up his languid eyes from this small
Speaker 1: sign of life, relapsing many times to languid sloth. While
Speaker 1: nodding with his chin, he struck his breast again and again.
Speaker 1: At last he roused himself from gloom and slumber, and
Speaker 1: while raised upon his elbow, he inquired of Iris, why
Speaker 1: she came to him. He knew her by name. She
Speaker 1: answered him, Oh, Sleep, divine repose of all things, gentlest
Speaker 1: of the deities. Peace to the troubled mind, from which
Speaker 1: you drive the cares of life, restorer of men's strength.
Speaker 1: When wearied with the toils of day, command a vision
Speaker 1: that shall seem the actual form of royal cakes. To
Speaker 1: visit Trachan, famed for Hercules, and tell Halcione his death
Speaker 1: by shipwreck. It is Juno's wish. Iris departed after this
Speaker 1: was said, for she no longer could endure the effect
Speaker 1: of slumber vapor, And as soon as she knew sleep
Speaker 1: was creeping over her tired limbs, she flew from there.
Speaker 1: And she departed by the rainbow over which she came before.
Speaker 1: Out of the multitude his thousand sons. The God of
Speaker 1: Sleep raised Morpheus by his power, most skillful of his sons,
Speaker 1: who had the art of imitating any human shape and dexterously,
Speaker 1: could imitate in men the gait and countenance, and every
Speaker 1: mode of speaking. He could simulate the dress and customary
Speaker 1: words of any man he chose to represent, but he
Speaker 1: could not assume the form of anything but man, such
Speaker 1: was his art. Another of sleep sons could imitate all
Speaker 1: kinds of animals, such as a wild beast, or a
Speaker 1: flying bird, or even a serpent with its twisted shape.
Speaker 1: And that son by the gods above, was called Kolos,
Speaker 1: but the inhabitants of earth called him Phobator. And a
Speaker 1: third son named Fantassos, cleverly could change himself into the
Speaker 1: forms of earth that have no life, into a statue, water,
Speaker 1: or a tree. It was the habit of these three
Speaker 1: to show themselves at night to kings and generals, and
Speaker 1: other sons would frequently appear among the people of the
Speaker 1: common class. All such the aged god of Sleep passed
Speaker 1: by selecting only Morpheus from among the many brothers to
Speaker 1: accomplish this and execute what Iris had desired. And after
Speaker 1: all that work, he dropped his head and sank again
Speaker 1: into languid drowsiness, shrinking to sloth within his lofty couch.
Speaker 1: Morpheus at once flew through the night of darkness on
Speaker 1: his wings that make no sound, and in brief space
Speaker 1: of intervening time, arrived at the Haemonian city walls, and
Speaker 1: there he laid aside his wings and took the face
Speaker 1: and form of Cakes. In that form as one deprived
Speaker 1: of life, devoid of clothes, wan and ghastly, he stood
Speaker 1: beside the bed of the sad wife. The hero's beard
Speaker 1: seemed dripping sea water streamed down from his drenching hair. Then,
Speaker 1: leaning on the bed, while dropping tears were running down
Speaker 1: his cheeks, he said these words, most wretched wife, Can
Speaker 1: you still recognize your own loved Cakes? Or have my
Speaker 1: looks changed so much with death that you cannot look
Speaker 1: at me? And you will be assured I am your own.
Speaker 1: But here, instead of your dear husband you will find
Speaker 1: only his ghost. Your faithful prayers did not avail, Halcione,
Speaker 1: and I have perished, give up all deluding hopes of
Speaker 1: my return. The stormy south wind caught my ship while
Speaker 1: sailing the Aegean Sea, and there tossed by the mighty wind.
Speaker 1: My ship was dashed to pieces, while I vainly called
Speaker 1: upon your name. The angry waters closed above my drowning head.
Speaker 1: And it is no uncertain messenger that tells you this,
Speaker 1: and nothing from vague rumors has been told. But is
Speaker 1: I myself come from the wreck now telling you my fate? Come?
Speaker 1: Then arise, shed tears and put on mourning. Do not
Speaker 1: send me unlamented down to Tartarus. And Morpheus added to
Speaker 1: these words a voice which she would certainly believe was
Speaker 1: her beloved husbands, And he seemed to be shedding fond
Speaker 1: human tears, and even his hands were moved in gestures
Speaker 1: that cakes often used. Halcione shed tears and groaned aloud,
Speaker 1: And as she moved her arms and caught at his
Speaker 1: dear body, she embraced the vacant air. She cried out loudly, stay, oh,
Speaker 1: stay with me. Why do you hurry from me? We
Speaker 1: will go together. Agitated by her own excited voice and
Speaker 1: by what seemed to be her own dear husband, she
Speaker 1: awoke from sleep and first looked all about her to
Speaker 1: persuade herself that he whom she had lately seen, must
Speaker 1: yet be with her, For she had aroused the servants,
Speaker 1: who in haste brought lights desired. When she could find
Speaker 1: him nowhere, in despair, she struck her face and tore
Speaker 1: her garment from her breast, and beat her breast with
Speaker 1: mourning hands. She did not wait to loosen her long hair,
Speaker 1: but tore it with her hands. And to her nurse,
Speaker 1: who asked the cause of her wild grief, she cried, Alas,
Speaker 1: halci own is no more, no more with her own cakes.
Speaker 1: She is dead, is dead, away with words of comfort.
Speaker 1: He is lost by shipwreck. I have seen him, and
Speaker 1: I knew him, surely as a ghost. He came to me,
Speaker 1: And when desirous to detain him, I stretched forth my
Speaker 1: arms to him. His ghost left me. It vanished from me.
Speaker 1: But it surely was the ghost of my dead husband.
Speaker 1: If you asked description of it, I must truly say.
Speaker 1: He did not have his well known features. He was
Speaker 1: not so cheerful as he was in life. Alas I
Speaker 1: saw him pale and naked, with his hair still dripping.
Speaker 1: His ghost from the waves stood on this very spot,
Speaker 1: and while she moaned, she sought his footprints on the floor. Alas,
Speaker 1: this was my fear, and this is what my mind
Speaker 1: shuddered to think of when I begged that you would
Speaker 1: not desert me for the wind's control. But how I wish,
Speaker 1: since you were sailing forth to perish, that you had
Speaker 1: but taken me with you. If I had gone with you,
Speaker 1: it would have been advantaged to me, for I should
Speaker 1: have shared the whole course of my life with you,
Speaker 1: and you would not have met a separate death. I
Speaker 1: linger here, but I have met my death. I toss
Speaker 1: on waves and drift upon the sea. My heart would
Speaker 1: be more cruel than the waves. If it should ask
Speaker 1: me to endure this life, if I should struggle to
Speaker 1: survive such grief, If I will not strive nor leave
Speaker 1: you so forlorn, at least I'll follow you to death.
Speaker 1: If not the urn, at least the lettered stone should
Speaker 1: keep us still together. If your bones are not united
Speaker 1: with my bones, to sure our names must be united.
Speaker 1: Overcome with grief, she could not say another word, but
Speaker 1: she continued wailing, and her groans were heaved up from
Speaker 1: her sorrow stricken breast. At early dawn, she went from
Speaker 1: her abode down to the seashore, where, most wretchedly she
Speaker 1: stood upon the spot from which he sailed, and sadly said,
Speaker 1: He lingered here while he was loosening the cables, and
Speaker 1: he kissed me on this shore when he left be here.
Speaker 1: And while she called to recollection all that she had
Speaker 1: seen when standing there, and while she looked far out
Speaker 1: on flowing waves from there, she noticed floating on the
Speaker 1: distant See, what shall I say? At first she could
Speaker 1: not be sure of what she saw, But presently, although
Speaker 1: still distant, it was certainly a floating corpse. She could
Speaker 1: not see what man he might be. But because it
Speaker 1: seemed to her surely was a shipwrecked body, she was
Speaker 1: moved as at an omen, and began to weep and moaning.
Speaker 1: As she stood there, said, a wretched one, whoever it
Speaker 1: might be, a wretched is the wife whom you have left.
Speaker 1: As driven by the waves, the body came still nearer
Speaker 1: to her. She was less and less the mistress of
Speaker 1: herself the more she looked upon it, And when it
Speaker 1: was close enough for her to see its features, she
Speaker 1: beheld her husband. It is he, she cried, And then
Speaker 1: she tore her face, her hair, her royal robe, and
Speaker 1: then extending both her trembling hands towards cakes. So, dearest one,
Speaker 1: so do you come to me again, she cried, Oh,
Speaker 1: luckless mate. A mole made by the craft of man
Speaker 1: adjoins the sea and breaks the shoreward rush of waves.
Speaker 1: To this she leapt. It seemed impossible, And then, while
Speaker 1: beating the light air with wings that instantly formed upon her,
Speaker 1: she flew on a mourning bird and skimmed above the waves.
Speaker 1: And while she lightly flew across the sea, her clacking mouth,
Speaker 1: with its long slender bill full of complaining, uttered moaning sounds.
Speaker 1: But when she touched the still and pallid form, embracing
Speaker 1: his dear limbs with her new wings, she gave cold
Speaker 1: kisses with her hardened bill. All those who saw it
Speaker 1: doubted whether cakes could feel her kisses, and it seemed
Speaker 1: to them the moving waves had raised his countenance, but
Speaker 1: he was truly conscious of her grief, and through the
Speaker 1: pity of the gods above, at last they both were
Speaker 1: changed to flying birds. Together in their fate, their love
Speaker 1: lived on. Nor in these birds were marriage bonds dissolved,
Speaker 1: and they soon coupled and were parent birds. Each winter,
Speaker 1: during seven full days of calm, Halcyon broods on her
Speaker 1: floating nest, her nest that sails upon a halcyon sea.
Speaker 1: The passage of the deep is free from storms throughout
Speaker 1: those seven full days, and Eolus restraining harmful winds within
Speaker 1: their cave. For his descendant's sake, give Halcion seas. An
Speaker 1: old man saw the two birds flying across the wide
Speaker 1: extended sea and praised their love, undying to the end.
Speaker 1: His old friend, who stood near him, said, there is
Speaker 1: another bird which you can see, skimming above the waves
Speaker 1: with folded legs drawn up. And as he spoke, he
Speaker 1: pointed at a dive dapper which had a long throat,
Speaker 1: and continued. It was first the son of a great king,
Speaker 1: as cakes was, and if you wish to know his ancestry,
Speaker 1: I can assure you he was descended from Illis, Assaracus
Speaker 1: and Ganymede, taken by Jupiter and old Laomadon and Priam
Speaker 1: ruler at the fall of Troy. Eacus was the brother
Speaker 1: of the great illustrious Hector, and if he had not
Speaker 1: been victimized by a strange fate in youth, he would
Speaker 1: have equalled Hector's glorious fame. Hector was a child of Hecuba,
Speaker 1: who was daughter of Daimus Elixuri, the daughter of the
Speaker 1: two horned Granicus, so rumor has it secretly brought forth
Speaker 1: the secus hidden under Ida's shade. He loathed the city, and,
Speaker 1: away from court, frequented lonely mountains and the fields of
Speaker 1: unambitious peasants. Rarely he was seen among the throngs of Ilium.
Speaker 1: Yet neither churlish nor impregnable to love's appeal, he saw Hesperia,
Speaker 1: the daughter of Cabrinus, while she was once resting on
Speaker 1: the velvet shaded banks of his sire's cherished stream. Issaccus
Speaker 1: had so often sought for her throughout the woods, just
Speaker 1: when he saw her. While she rested there, her head
Speaker 1: spread on her shoulders to the sun, she saw him,
Speaker 1: and without delay she fled, even as the frightened deer
Speaker 1: runs from the wolf fort as the water duck, when
Speaker 1: she has left her favored stream surprised flies from the hawk.
Speaker 1: Issacus followed her, as swift with love as she was
Speaker 1: swift with fear. But in the grass, a lurking snake
Speaker 1: struck at her rosy heel and left its venom in
Speaker 1: her flesh, and so her flight was ended by untimely death.
Speaker 1: Oh frantic, he embraced her breathless form and cry alas
Speaker 1: alas that I pursue. I did not dream of such
Speaker 1: a dreadful fate. Success was not worth such a price.
Speaker 1: I and the snake together caused your death. The serpent
Speaker 1: gave the wound. I was the cause. Mine is the
Speaker 1: greater guilt, And by my death, I'll give you consolation
Speaker 1: for your death. He said those words, and leapt on
Speaker 1: a high rock which years of sounding waves had undermined,
Speaker 1: and hurled himself into the sea below. Tethys was moved
Speaker 1: with pity for his fall, received him softly, and then
Speaker 1: covered him with feathers as he swam along the waves.
Speaker 1: The death he sought was not for granted him. At
Speaker 1: this the lover was wroth. Against his will. He was
Speaker 1: obliged to live in his distress, with opposition to his
Speaker 1: spirit that desired departure from the wretched pain of life.
Speaker 1: As he assumed upon his shoulder's wings new formed, he
Speaker 1: flew aloft, and from that height again he plunged his
Speaker 1: body in the waves. Feathers broke all danger of that fall,
Speaker 1: and this new bird, Eesacus plunged headlong into the deep
Speaker 1: and tried incessantly that method of destruction his great love unsatisfied,
Speaker 1: made his sad body lean till even the space is
Speaker 1: fixed between the joints of his legs had grown long.
Speaker 1: His neck is long so that his head is far
Speaker 1: away from his lean body. Still he hunts the sea
Speaker 1: and takes his name from diving in the waves. Oh,
Speaker 1: nerds are nerds, Thank you for listening. As always, this
Speaker 1: was really the perfect thing for me this week. I
Speaker 1: don't know the last time I had to actually change
Speaker 1: the podcast schedule because of feeling bad and awful and
Speaker 1: hormonal and sicker otherwise. But God was glad I could
Speaker 1: do it this week. And hey, technically this still fits
Speaker 1: with the Roman month we're doing for August, so there,
Speaker 1: Before I go, I must just say I have no
Speaker 1: idea how to actually pronounce that king's name, which is
Speaker 1: too bad because that story was really lovely and emotional
Speaker 1: and like cakes sounds so weird anyway, it's spelled like
Speaker 1: ce y x. I don't know. I didn't have a
Speaker 1: better guess. Also, in answer to a question that somebody
Speaker 1: asked me for the Q and A episode, but it
Speaker 1: came in like just too late. I think I had
Speaker 1: just recorded when I saw it. They brought up the
Speaker 1: fact that a lot of these old translations, including today's episode,
Speaker 1: which is what reminded me, use the word corn like
Speaker 1: as if there's there's corn there, which this person rightly
Speaker 1: pointed out there wasn't corn in Europe, you know, in
Speaker 1: the ancient world. And it's one of those things it's
Speaker 1: like old translations and I don't know the backstory. I'm
Speaker 1: sure someone has written about it, because it comes up
Speaker 1: quite a lot, these like old translations that present there
Speaker 1: being corn, and I think usually it's like it's actually
Speaker 1: wheat or something, you know, something where the like visual
Speaker 1: style of translation, like trying to figure out what the
Speaker 1: ancient people were talking about, gave them the idea that
Speaker 1: it was corn back you know, in the day. But
Speaker 1: newer translations will no longer ever say that there was
Speaker 1: corn in the Mediterranean in the ancient world, because there
Speaker 1: was not. So yeah, it's just like a weird product
Speaker 1: of its time, but kind of entertaining. Every time you
Speaker 1: hear the word corn, you can be like, well, I
Speaker 1: wonder what they were actually talking about. It's one of
Speaker 1: those things where it's just purely that I can only
Speaker 1: read very old translations legally speaking, But if you're reading,
Speaker 1: you know, the fresh new ones. No one's saying corn,
Speaker 1: and if they are, they're lunatics. There's no Hey, that's
Speaker 1: been your lesson on corn in the ancient world. Thank you? Okay.
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, Oh, on Tuesday, we were talking about why
Speaker 1: Roman mythology differs from Greek in as much that I
Speaker 1: can explain it, because there's a lot happening there. And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you the stories of Kibelee, the Eastern
Speaker 1: goddess that Rome quite literally brought to Italy and made
Speaker 1: Magna Mater the great Mother. Let's talk. Go. Mis Baby
Speaker 1: is written in produced by Me Live. Albert Michael Smith
Speaker 1: is a hermester my Olympians, perhaps more colloquially known as
Speaker 1: the assistant producer. The podcast is hosted and monetized by iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Help
Speaker 1: me continue bringing you the world of Greek mythology and
Speaker 1: the ancient Mediterranean by becoming a patron while you get
Speaker 1: bonus episodes and more. Visit patreon dot com splash myths Baby,
Speaker 1: or click the link in this episode's description. I am
Speaker 1: live and God's do. I love this shit, even when
Speaker 1: my hormones threatened to make me rip a man to
Speaker 1: shreds