Speaker 1: Hello, welcome. This is let's talk about Met's baby, and
Speaker 1: I am that host of yours live here with another
Speaker 1: reading from Ovid's Metamorphoses, because you know it's Avid. It's great.
Speaker 1: As always with these types of episode, this is just
Speaker 1: a straight reading of an old public domain translation of Ovid.
Speaker 1: If you're looking to read some of this work yourself,
Speaker 1: I would highly recommend the new translation by Stephanie McCarter.
Speaker 1: It's really readable and beautiful and tries to consciously address
Speaker 1: a lot of the more problematic aspects that have existed
Speaker 1: in earlier translations, particularly those translations done by old white
Speaker 1: men like this one. But hey, this is the one
Speaker 1: that we have to read, so we enjoy it for
Speaker 1: what it is. Last time we had both the incredibly
Speaker 1: fun and interesting story of a Rackney and Minerva Athena
Speaker 1: and also the most horrifying story of all Greek myth,
Speaker 1: that of Prockney and Philamella. Honestly, that one was a
Speaker 1: fucking tough to read. I won't lie. I think you
Speaker 1: could hear it in my tone. But yeah, it's just awful.
Speaker 1: Thankfully of it is still good. Also a reminder that
Speaker 1: if you are confused by the Latin slash Roman names
Speaker 1: for the gods. There is a link in the episode
Speaker 1: subscription that will tell you some of the more common ones,
Speaker 1: so you know their Greek names. But Procne and Pilamella aside.
Speaker 1: Fortunately this week, this next book starts off with a bang,
Speaker 1: because we are getting right into none other than Jason
Speaker 1: and Medea. What a time. This is Avid's Metamorphoses, book seven,
Speaker 1: translated by Brooks. More Over, the storm tossed waves. The
Speaker 1: Argonauts had sailed in Argo their long ship, to where
Speaker 1: King Phineas, needy in his old age, reigned, deprived of
Speaker 1: sight and feeble. When the sons of Boreas had landed
Speaker 1: on the shore and seen the harpies snatching from the
Speaker 1: king his nourishment, befouling it with beaks, obscene, they drove
Speaker 1: those human vultures thence and, having suffered hardships and great toils,
Speaker 1: after the day, they rescued the sad king from the
Speaker 1: vile harpies. Those twin valiant youths Zti's and Calais came
Speaker 1: with their chief, the mighty Jason. Where the Facis flows
Speaker 1: from the green margin of that river. All the crew
Speaker 1: of Argonauts by Jason led went to the king i
Speaker 1: Etes and required the golden fleece that he received from Phrixus.
Speaker 1: When they had bargained with him full of wiles, he
Speaker 1: offered to restore the golden fleece only to those who
Speaker 1: might to him return victorious from hard labors of great risk. Medeia,
Speaker 1: the king's daughter, near his throne, saw Jason, leader of
Speaker 1: the Argonauts, as he was pressing to secure a prize,
Speaker 1: and loved at sight with a consuming flame. Although she
Speaker 1: struggled to suppress her love. Unable to restrain her self,
Speaker 1: she said in vain, I've striven to subdue my heart.
Speaker 1: Some god, it must be, which I cannot tell, is
Speaker 1: a working to destroy my hapless life, or else it
Speaker 1: is the burning flame of love that in me rages.
Speaker 1: If it is not love, why do the mandates of
Speaker 1: my father seem too harsh? They surely are too harsh.
Speaker 1: Why do I fear that he may perish whom I
Speaker 1: have seen only once? What is the secret cause that
Speaker 1: I am agitated by such fears? It is no other
Speaker 1: than the God of love, the rust from your virgin breast,
Speaker 1: such burning flames, and overcome their hot unhappiness. If I
Speaker 1: could do so, I should be myself, but some deluding
Speaker 1: power is holding me helpless against my will. Desire persuades
Speaker 1: me one way, but my reason still persuades me another way.
Speaker 1: I see a better course, and I approve, but follow
Speaker 1: its defeat. Oh royal maiden, why are you consumed with
Speaker 1: love for this strange man? And why are you so
Speaker 1: willing to be carried by the nuptial ties so far
Speaker 1: from your own country, where indeed are many brave men
Speaker 1: worthy of your love, Whether for life or death, His
Speaker 1: numbered hours are in the mercy of the living gods,
Speaker 1: and that he may not suffer risk of death too
Speaker 1: well foreseen. Now let my prayers prevail righteously, uttered of
Speaker 1: a generous heart without the stress of love. What wicked
Speaker 1: thing has Jason done? His handsome person, youth and noble
Speaker 1: ways would move a heart of stone? Have I a
Speaker 1: heart of flint? Or was I born a tigress to
Speaker 1: deny him timely aid? Unless I interpose, he will be
Speaker 1: slain by the hot breath of brazen footed bulls, or
Speaker 1: will be slaughtered by the warriors sprung miraculous from earth,
Speaker 1: or will be given to satisfy the ravenous appetite of
Speaker 1: a huge dragon Let my gloating eyes be satiit with
Speaker 1: his dying agonies. Let me incite the fury of these bulls,
Speaker 1: stir to their blood lust mad born sons of Earth,
Speaker 1: rouse up to the never sleeping dragon's rage, avert it God's.
Speaker 1: But why should I cry out upon the gods to
Speaker 1: save him from such wrong, when by my actions in
Speaker 1: my power myself may shield him from all evils. Such
Speaker 1: a course would wreck the kingdom of my father, and
Speaker 1: by me the wily stranger would escape from him, and,
Speaker 1: spreading to the wind his ready sails, he would forget
Speaker 1: and leave me to my fate. Oh, if he should
Speaker 1: forget my sacrifice, and so prefer those who neglected him,
Speaker 1: let him then perish in his treachery. But these are
Speaker 1: idle thoughts. His countenance reveals innate nobility and grace that
Speaker 1: should dispel all fear of treachery and guarantee his ever
Speaker 1: faithful heart. The gods will witness our united souls, and
Speaker 1: he shall pledge his faith Secure of it, my fear
Speaker 1: will be removed moved. Be ready, then, and make a
Speaker 1: virtue of necessity. Your Jason owes himself to you, and
Speaker 1: he must join you in true wedlock. Then you shall
Speaker 1: be celebrated through the land of Greece by throngs of
Speaker 1: women for the man you saved. Shall I then sail
Speaker 1: away and so forsake my sister, brother, father, gods, and
Speaker 1: land that gave me birth. My father is indeed a
Speaker 1: stern man, and my native land is all too barbarous.
Speaker 1: My brother is a child. My sister's good will is
Speaker 1: good help for me, and Heaven's supreme God is within
Speaker 1: my breast. I shall not so be leaving valued hopes,
Speaker 1: but will be going surely to great things, And I
Speaker 1: should gain applause from all the world, as having saved
Speaker 1: the threatened Argonauts, most noble of the Greeks, and in
Speaker 1: their land, which certainly is better than my own, become
Speaker 1: the bride of Jason, for whose love I should not
Speaker 1: hesitate to give the world, and whose love the living
Speaker 1: gods rejoice so greatly for his sake, they would bestow
Speaker 1: their favors on my head and make the stars my habitation.
Speaker 1: Should I hesitate because the reck strewn mountains bar the
Speaker 1: way and clash together in the euxine waves, or fear
Speaker 1: charybdis fatal to large ships that sucks the deep sea
Speaker 1: in its whirling gulf and spouts far upward with alternate force,
Speaker 1: or scilla circled with infuriate hounds howling and rage from
Speaker 1: deep sicilian waves. Safe in the shielding arms of him
Speaker 1: I love, on Jason's bosom, leaning, I shall be borne
Speaker 1: safely over wide and hostile seas, and in his dear embrace.
Speaker 1: Forget my fears, or if for anything I suffer dread,
Speaker 1: it will be only for the one I love. Alas Madeia,
Speaker 1: this vain argument has only furnished plausible excuse for criminal
Speaker 1: desires and desecrates the marriage right. It is a wicked
Speaker 1: thing to think upon before it is too late to
Speaker 1: forget your passion and deny this guilt. And after she
Speaker 1: had said these words, her eyes were opened to the
Speaker 1: prize of modesty, chaste virtue, and a pure affection. And Cupid, vanquished,
Speaker 1: turned away and fled then to an ancient altar of
Speaker 1: the goddess named Hecate, Percy's daughter took her way in
Speaker 1: the deep shadows of a forest. She was strong on
Speaker 1: purpose now, and all the flames of vanquished passion had
Speaker 1: died down. But when she saw the son of Esen,
Speaker 1: dying flames leapt up again, her cheeks grew red, then
Speaker 1: all her face went pale again, as a small spark
Speaker 1: when hid beneath the ashes, if fed by a breath
Speaker 1: of wind, grows and regains its strength as it is
Speaker 1: fanned to life. So now her love, that had been smoldering,
Speaker 1: and which she would have thought was almost dead, when
Speaker 1: she had seen again his manly youth, blazed up once more.
Speaker 1: For on that day his graceful person seemed as glorious
Speaker 1: as a god. And as she gazed and fixed her
Speaker 1: eyes upon his count, her frenzy so prevailed. She was
Speaker 1: convinced that he was not immortal, and her eyes were fascinated,
Speaker 1: and she could not turn away from him. But when
Speaker 1: he spoke to her and promised marriage, grasping her right hand,
Speaker 1: she answered, as her eyes suffused with tears, I see
Speaker 1: what I will do, and ignorance of truth will not
Speaker 1: be my undoing now, but love itself. By my assistance,
Speaker 1: you shall be preserved. But when preserved, fulfill your promise.
Speaker 1: He swore that she could trust him. Then, by the
Speaker 1: goddess of triple form, Diana Trivia or Luna called, and
Speaker 1: by her sacred groves and fans, he vowed, and by
Speaker 1: the hallowed son that sees all things, and by his
Speaker 1: own adventures and his life on these, the youthful Jason
Speaker 1: took his oath. With this, she was assured, and quickly
Speaker 1: gave to him the magic herbs. He learnt their use,
Speaker 1: and full of joy, withdrew into his house. Now, when
Speaker 1: the dawn had dimmed the glittering stars, the people hastened
Speaker 1: to the sacred field of Mars, and on the hills
Speaker 1: Expectant stood arrayed in purple and in majesty, distinguished by
Speaker 1: his ivory scepter, sat the king, surrounded by a multitude.
Speaker 1: Below them, on the visioned field of Mars, huge brazen
Speaker 1: footed bulls were breathing forth from adamantine nostrils, living flames,
Speaker 1: blasting the verdant herbage in their path, as forges glow
Speaker 1: with hot flames resound, or as much quicklime burnt in
Speaker 1: earthen kilns, crackles and hisses, as if mad with rage,
Speaker 1: sprinkled with water liberating heat, so their hot throats and
Speaker 1: triple heated sides resounding told of pent up fires within
Speaker 1: the sun of Esuen went to meet them. As he
Speaker 1: came to meet them, the fierce animals turned on him,
Speaker 1: faces terrible and sharp porns tipped with iron, and they
Speaker 1: pawed the dusty earth with cloven feet and filled the
Speaker 1: space with fiery bellowings. The minions were stark with fear.
Speaker 1: He went up to the bulls, not feeling their hot
Speaker 1: breath at all, so great the power of his charmed drugs.
Speaker 1: And while he was stroking their down hanging dewlaps with
Speaker 1: a fearless hand, he placed the yoke down on their
Speaker 1: necks and made them draw the heavy plow and cut
Speaker 1: through the fields that never felt the steel before. The
Speaker 1: Colchians were amazed and silent, but the loud shouting of
Speaker 1: the miniands increased their hero's courage. Taking then the serpent's
Speaker 1: teeth out of a brazen helmet, he sowed them broadcast
Speaker 1: in the new plowed field. The moist earth softened these
Speaker 1: seeds that were steeped in virulent poison, and the teeth
Speaker 1: swelled up and took new forms. And, just as in
Speaker 1: its mother, and infant, gradually assumes the form of men,
Speaker 1: and is perfected through all parts within, and does not
Speaker 1: come forth to the light till fully formed. So when
Speaker 1: the forms of men had been completed in the womb
Speaker 1: of Earth made pregnant, they rose up from it, and
Speaker 1: what is yet more wonderful, each one clashed weapons that
Speaker 1: had been brought forth with him. When his companions saw
Speaker 1: the warriors turn as if with one accord, to hurl
Speaker 1: their spears, sharp pointed at the head of Jason, fear
Speaker 1: unnerved the boldest, and their courage failed. So too the maid,
Speaker 1: whose sorcery had saved him from much danger. When she
Speaker 1: saw the youth encompassed by those raging enemies, and he
Speaker 1: alone against so many, struck with sudden panic, she turned
Speaker 1: ashen white. Her bloodless cheeks were blanched and chilled with fear.
Speaker 1: She wilted to the ground unless the herbs so lately
Speaker 1: given him might fail his need. She added incantations and
Speaker 1: invoked mysterious arts. While she protected him, he seized upon
Speaker 1: a heavy stone and hurled it into the midst of
Speaker 1: his new enemies. Distracted by this caste and murderous, they
Speaker 1: turned from him, and, clashing their new arms, those earth
Speaker 1: born brothers fought among themselves till all were slaughtered in
Speaker 1: blood thirsty strife. Gladly, the Greeks acclaimed him conqueror and
Speaker 1: pressed around him for the first embrace. Then too Medeia,
Speaker 1: barbarous Colchian maid, although her modesty restrained, her heart, eagerly
Speaker 1: longed to fold him in her arms, but careful of
Speaker 1: her good name, held aloof rejoicing in deep silent love,
Speaker 1: and she acknowledged to the gods her mighty gift of incantations.
Speaker 1: But the dragon, still alert, magnificent and terrible, with gorgeous
Speaker 1: crest and triple tongue and fangs barbed as a javelin,
Speaker 1: guards the golden fleece, and Jason can obtain that quest
Speaker 1: only if slumber may se up the monster's eyes. Jason
Speaker 1: successful sprinkled on his Crestlethian juices of a magic herb,
Speaker 1: and then recited thrice the words which bring deep slumber,
Speaker 1: potent words which would becalm the storm tossed ocean and
Speaker 1: would stop the flow of the most rapid rivers of
Speaker 1: our Earth, And slowly slumber sealed the dragon's eyes. While
Speaker 1: that great monster slept, the hero took the golden fleece
Speaker 1: and proudly sailed away, bearing his treasure and the willing
Speaker 1: maid whose aid had saved him, to his native port Eulcus.
Speaker 1: Victorious with the argonauts. Now, when the valiant Argonauts returned
Speaker 1: to Thessaly, their happy relatives, fathers and mothers, praised the
Speaker 1: living gods, and with their hallowed gifts, enhanced the flames
Speaker 1: with precious incense. And they offered Jove a sacred bullock,
Speaker 1: rich with gilded horns. But Jason's father, Esen, came not
Speaker 1: down rejoicing to behold his son, for now worn out
Speaker 1: with many years, he waited death. And Jason to Medaya, grieving, said,
Speaker 1: dearest to whom my life and love are due. Although
Speaker 1: your kindness has been great to me, and you have
Speaker 1: granted more than I should ask, yet one more thing
Speaker 1: I beg of you. If your enchantments can accomplish my desire,
Speaker 1: take from my life some years that I should live,
Speaker 1: and add them to my father's ending days. And as
Speaker 1: he spoke, he could not check the tears. Medeia, moved
Speaker 1: by his affection, thought how much less she had grieved
Speaker 1: for her loved sire, and she replied, A wicked thing,
Speaker 1: you ask. Can I be capable of using you in
Speaker 1: such a manner as to take your life and give
Speaker 1: it to another? Ask not me a thing so dreadful?
Speaker 1: May the gods forbid, I will endeavor to perform for
Speaker 1: you a task much greater by the powers of night.
Speaker 1: I will most certainly return to him the lost years
Speaker 1: of your father, but must not deprive you of your own. Oh,
Speaker 1: grant the power, great goddesses of the triple form, that
Speaker 1: I may not fail to accomplish this great deed. Three
Speaker 1: nights were wanting for the moon to join her circling
Speaker 1: horns and form a perfect orb. When these were passed,
Speaker 1: the rounded light shone full and bright upon the earth
Speaker 1: through the still night. Alone, Medea stole forth from the house,
Speaker 1: with feet bare and in flowing garment, clothed, her long
Speaker 1: hair unadorned and not confined deep slumber. Had relaxed to
Speaker 1: the world and all that's living, animals and birds and men,
Speaker 1: and even the hedges and the breathing leaves are still
Speaker 1: and motionless the laden air. Only the stars are twinkling,
Speaker 1: and to them she looks and beckons with imploring hands.
Speaker 1: Now thrice around she paces, and three times besprinkles her
Speaker 1: long hair with water dipped from crystal streams, which, having done,
Speaker 1: she kneels a moment on the cold, bare ground, and
Speaker 1: screaming three times calls upon the night. Oh faithful night,
Speaker 1: regard my mysteries, Oh golden lighted stars, Oh softly moving moon, genial,
Speaker 1: your fire succeeds the heated day. Oh Hecate grave, three
Speaker 1: faced queen of these charms of enchanters and enchanters arts,
Speaker 1: Oh fruitful Earth, giver of potent herbs, Oh gentle breezes
Speaker 1: and destructive winds. You mountains, rivers, lakes and sacred groves,
Speaker 1: and every dreaded god of silent night attend upon me.
Speaker 1: When my power commands, The rivers turn from their accustomed
Speaker 1: ways and roll far backward to their secret springs. I speak,
Speaker 1: and the wild trouble sea is calm, and I command
Speaker 1: the waters to arise. The clouds. I scatter, and I
Speaker 1: bring the clouds. I smooth the wind and ruffle up
Speaker 1: their rage. I weave my spells and recite my charms.
Speaker 1: I pluck the fangs of serpents, and I move the
Speaker 1: living rocks and twist of the rooted oaks. I blast
Speaker 1: the Fourrists. Mountains at my word tremble and quake, and
Speaker 1: from her granite tombs the liberated ghosts arise as earth
Speaker 1: astonished groans from your appointed ways. O wonder working Moon,
Speaker 1: I draw you down against the magic making sound of
Speaker 1: gongs and brazen vessels of timesas ore, I cast my
Speaker 1: spells and veil the jeweled rays of Phoebus wane, and
Speaker 1: quench Aurora's fires. At my command, you tamed the flaming bulls,
Speaker 1: which long disdained to bend beneath the yoke, until they
Speaker 1: pressed their necks against the plow. And subject to my will,
Speaker 1: you raised up war till the strong company of dragon
Speaker 1: Birth were slaughtered as they fought amongst themselves. And last
Speaker 1: you lulled asleep the Warden's eyes guards of the Golden fleece,
Speaker 1: till then awaken sleeping, never so deceiving him, you sent
Speaker 1: the treasure to the Grecian cities. Witness my need of
Speaker 1: supernatured herbs elixirs potent to renew the years of age,
Speaker 1: giving the bloom of youth. You shall not fail to
Speaker 1: grant me this, For not in vain the stars are
Speaker 1: flashing confirmation. Not in vain the flying dragons, harnessed by
Speaker 1: their necks from skies descending, bring my chariot down. A
Speaker 1: chariot sent from heaven came to her, and soon as
Speaker 1: she had stroked the dragon's necks and shaken in her
Speaker 1: hands the guiding reins. As soon as she had mounted,
Speaker 1: she was borne quickly above through unresisting air, and sailing
Speaker 1: over Thessaly, she saw the veil of Tempe, where the
Speaker 1: level soil is widely covered with a crumbling chalk. She
Speaker 1: turned her dragons towards new regions there, and she observed
Speaker 1: the herbs by Osa Bourne, the weeds on lofty pelion,
Speaker 1: Othrs pindous and vast olympus. And from here she plucked
Speaker 1: the kneaded roots, or there the blossoms clipped, all with
Speaker 1: the moon curved sickle made of brass. Many the wild
Speaker 1: weeds of Apidanus, as well as blue amphyrsus banks she
Speaker 1: chose and not escaped Nipius from her search, penny in
Speaker 1: stretches and Sperculian banks, and she yielded what she chose,
Speaker 1: and Beebe's sure where sway the rushes she plucked up grass,
Speaker 1: a secret grass from fair ubon fields, life giving virtues
Speaker 1: and their waving blades as yet unknown for transformation wrought
Speaker 1: on Glaucus. All those fields she visited with ceaseless diligence
Speaker 1: in quest of charms. Nine days and nine nights sought
Speaker 1: strong herbs, and the swift dragons, with their active wings,
Speaker 1: failed not to guide the chariot where she willed until
Speaker 1: they reached her home. The dragons then had not been
Speaker 1: ever touched by anything except the odor of surrounding herbs,
Speaker 1: and yet they sloughed their skins the growth of years.
Speaker 1: She would not cross the threshold of her home nor
Speaker 1: its gates. But standing in the field alone, beneath the
Speaker 1: canopy of heaven, she shunned all contact with her husband,
Speaker 1: while she built up from the ever living turf too altars,
Speaker 1: one of which upon the right of Tahecate was given,
Speaker 1: but the other upon the left was sacred. Then to you,
Speaker 1: o hebe, Goddess of eternal youth. Festooning woodland, boughs and
Speaker 1: sweet verveine adorned these altars, near by which she dug
Speaker 1: as many trenches. Then, when all was done, she slaughtered
Speaker 1: a black ram and sprinkled with blood the thirsty trenches,
Speaker 1: after which she poured from rich Carquaesian goblets generous wine
Speaker 1: and warm milk, grateful to propitious gods, the deities of Earth,
Speaker 1: on whom she called, entreating as she did so, Pluto,
Speaker 1: Lord of ghastly shades, and ravished prosser Pine that they
Speaker 1: should not, in undue haste deprive her patient's aged limbs
Speaker 1: of life. When certain she compelled the god's regard assured
Speaker 1: her incantations and long prayers were both approved and heard.
Speaker 1: She bade her people bring out the body of her
Speaker 1: father in law, Old Eson's worn out body, and when
Speaker 1: she had buried him in a deep slumber by her spells,
Speaker 1: as if he were a dead man, she then stretched
Speaker 1: him out upon a bed of herbs. She ordered Jason
Speaker 1: and his servants thence and warned them not to spy
Speaker 1: upon her rights with eyes profane as soon as they retired. Medeia,
Speaker 1: with disheveled hair and wild abandon as a bacchanalian, paced
Speaker 1: times three around the blazing altars, while she dipped her
Speaker 1: torches splintered at the top into the trenches dark with blood,
Speaker 1: and lit the dipped ends in the sacred altar flames.
Speaker 1: Times three she purified the ancient man with flames, and
Speaker 1: thrice with water, and three times with sulfur. As the
Speaker 1: boiling mixture seethed and bubbled in the brazen cauldron near
Speaker 1: and into this acerbic juices roots and flowers and seeds
Speaker 1: from veil temonian and mixed elixirs into which she cast
Speaker 1: stones of strange virtue from the Orient, and sifted sands
Speaker 1: of ebbing oceans tied white hoar frost gathered when the
Speaker 1: moon was full, the nauseating flesh and luckless wings of
Speaker 1: the uncanny screech owl, and the entrails from a mysterious
Speaker 1: animal that changed from wolf to man, from man to
Speaker 1: wolf again, the scaly sloughing of a water snake, the
Speaker 1: medic liver of a long lived stag, and the hard
Speaker 1: beak and head of an old crow which was alive
Speaker 1: nine centuries before these, and a thousand nameless things. The
Speaker 1: foreign Sorceress prepared and mixed and blended all together with
Speaker 1: a branch of peaceful olive, old and dry with years.
Speaker 1: And while she stirred the withered olive branch in the
Speaker 1: hot mixture, it began to change from brown to green,
Speaker 1: and presently put forth new leaves, and soon was heavy
Speaker 1: with the wealth of luscious olives. As the ever rising
Speaker 1: fire threw bubbling forth beyond the cauldron's rim, the ground
Speaker 1: was covered with fresh, verdure flowers and all luxuriant grasses
Speaker 1: and green plants. Medeia, when she saw this wonder, took
Speaker 1: her unsheathed knife and cut the old man's throat, Then,
Speaker 1: letting all his old blood out of him, she filled
Speaker 1: his ancient veins with the rich elixir as he received
Speaker 1: it through his lips or wound. His beard and hair,
Speaker 1: no longer white with age, turned quickly to their natural vigor,
Speaker 1: dark and no longer lean and sallow, for his new
Speaker 1: blood coursed in his well filled veins, astonished when released
Speaker 1: from his deep sleep, and strong in youth, his memory
Speaker 1: assured him such he was years four times ten before
Speaker 1: that day. Bacchus, from his celestial vantage, saw this marvel
Speaker 1: and convinced his nurses might then all regain their former vigor.
Speaker 1: He pled with Medea to restore their youth. The Colchian
Speaker 1: woman granted his request, but so her malice might be satisfied,
Speaker 1: Medea feigned she had a quarrel with her husband, and
Speaker 1: for safety she had fled to Pelias. There, since the
Speaker 1: king himself was heavy with old age, his daughters gave
Speaker 1: her generous reception, and these girls the shrewd Medeia in
Speaker 1: a short time, won by her false show of friendliness,
Speaker 1: and while among the most remarkable of her achievements, she
Speaker 1: was telling how she had rejuvenated yeasen, and she dwelt
Speaker 1: particularly on that strange event. These daughters were induced to
Speaker 1: hope that by some skill like this, their father might
Speaker 1: regain his lost youth also, and they begged of her
Speaker 1: this boon, persuading her to name the price, no matter
Speaker 1: if it was large. She did not reply at once,
Speaker 1: and seemed to hesitate, And so she held their fond
Speaker 1: minds in a deep suspense by her feigned meditation. When
Speaker 1: she had at length declared she would restore his youth,
Speaker 1: she said to them that you may have strong confidence
Speaker 1: in this my promised boon. The oldest leader of your
Speaker 1: flock of sheep shall be changed into a lamb again
Speaker 1: by my prized drugs. Straightway, a wooly ram, worn out
Speaker 1: with the length of untold years, was brought, his great
Speaker 1: horns curved around his hollow temples. After she had cut
Speaker 1: his scrawny throat with her sharp knife, the Salian, barely
Speaker 1: staining it with his thin blood, madea plunged his carcass
Speaker 1: in a bronze made kettle, throwing in it at the
Speaker 1: same time juices of great potency. These made his body
Speaker 1: shrink and burnt away his two horns, and with horns
Speaker 1: his years. And now thin bleeding was heard from within
Speaker 1: the pot. And even while they wondered at the sound,
Speaker 1: a lamb jumped out and frisking, ran away to find
Speaker 1: some utter with its kneaded milk. Amazed, the daughters looked on,
Speaker 1: and now that these promises had been performed, they urged
Speaker 1: more eagerly their first request. Three times Phoebus unyoked his
Speaker 1: steeds after their plunge in Ebro's stream. And on the
Speaker 1: fourth night, stars shone brilliant in the dark foil of
Speaker 1: the sky. And then the treacherous daughter of AT's set
Speaker 1: some clear water over a hot fire and put in
Speaker 1: herbs of no potency. And now a deathlike sleep held
Speaker 1: the king down, his body all relaxed, and with the
Speaker 1: king his guards a sleep which incantations with the potency
Speaker 1: of magic words had given. The sad King's daughters, as
Speaker 1: they had been bid, were in his room, and with
Speaker 1: Medeia stood around his bed. Why do you hesitate, Medea said,
Speaker 1: you laggards, come and draw your swords. Let out his
Speaker 1: old blood, that I may refill his empty veins again
Speaker 1: with young blood in your hands. Your father's life and
Speaker 1: youth are resting you. His daughters must have love for him.
Speaker 1: And if the hopes you have are not all vain, come,
Speaker 1: do your duty by your father. Drive out old age
Speaker 1: at the point of your good weapons, and let out
Speaker 1: his blood unfeebled, cure him with the stroke of iron.
Speaker 1: Spurred on by these words, as each one of them
Speaker 1: was filial, she became the leader in the most unfilial act.
Speaker 1: And that she might not be most wicked did the
Speaker 1: wicked deed. Not one could bear to see her own blows.
Speaker 1: So they turned their eyes away, and every face averted,
Speaker 1: so they blindly struck him with their cruel hands. The
Speaker 1: old man, streaming with his blood still, raised himself on
Speaker 1: elbow and half mangled, tried to get up from his bed.
Speaker 1: With all those swords around him. He stretched out his
Speaker 1: pale arms, and he cried, what will you do, my daughters?
Speaker 1: What has armed you to the death of your loved father?
Speaker 1: Their wronged courage left them, and their hands fell. When
Speaker 1: he would have said still more, Medeia cut his throat
Speaker 1: and plunged his mangled body into boiling water. Only because
Speaker 1: her winged dragons sailed swiftly with her up to the
Speaker 1: lofty sky escaped Medeia. Punishment for this unheard of crime,
Speaker 1: her chariot sailed above embowered Pelion Long, the lofty home
Speaker 1: of Chirn, over Othrus, and the veil made famous where
Speaker 1: Carambis met his fate. Carambis, by the aid of nymphs,
Speaker 1: from there was wafted through the air on wings when
Speaker 1: Earth was covered by the overwhelming sea, and so escaped
Speaker 1: Deucalion's flood uncrowned. She passed by Patani upon the left
Speaker 1: with its huge serpent image of a hard stone, and
Speaker 1: also passed the grove called Ida's, where the stolen bull
Speaker 1: was changed by Bacchus's powers into a hunted stag. In
Speaker 1: that same vale. Paris lies buried in the sand and
Speaker 1: over fields where Mirah warning harked. Madea flew over the
Speaker 1: city of Eurypolis, upon the isle of Cos, whose women
Speaker 1: wore the horns of cattle, when from there had gone
Speaker 1: the herd of Hercules, and over Rhodes, beloved of Phoebus,
Speaker 1: where Telcinian tribes dwelt, whose bad eyes corrupting power shot
Speaker 1: forth Jove utterly despising, thrust them deep beneath his brother's waves,
Speaker 1: over the walls of old Carthia, where Alcadamis had seen
Speaker 1: with war under a tame dove arise from his own
Speaker 1: daughter's body, and she saw the lakes of Hyri in
Speaker 1: Tumessia's veil by swans. Frequented there to satisfy his love
Speaker 1: for sickness, Phileas gave two living vultures shell for him,
Speaker 1: subdued a lion and delivered it to him, and mastered
Speaker 1: a great bull at his command. But when the wearied
Speaker 1: Phileas refused to render to his friend the valued bull, indignant,
Speaker 1: the youth said, you shall regret your hasty words, which,
Speaker 1: having said, he leaped from a high precipice, as if
Speaker 1: to death, but gliding through the air on snow white wings,
Speaker 1: was changed into a swan, dissolved in tears. His mother
Speaker 1: Hyrie knew not what he was saved, and weeping formed
Speaker 1: the lake that bears her name, and over Pleuron, where
Speaker 1: on trembling wings escaped the mother comb from her son's
Speaker 1: Medea flew and over the fair isle Coloria sacred to Latona.
Speaker 1: She beheld the conscious fields whose lawful king, together with
Speaker 1: his queen, were changed into birds. Upon her right, Caylini
Speaker 1: could be seen there Menaphon, degraded as a beast, outraged
Speaker 1: his mother. In the distance, she beheld Cphesius, who lamented
Speaker 1: long his hapless grandson by Apollo changed into a bloated
Speaker 1: sea calf, and she saw the house where King Eumelus
Speaker 1: mourned the death of his aspiring son born on the
Speaker 1: wings of her enchanted dragons, she arrived at Corinth, whose
Speaker 1: inhabitants tis said from many mushrooms watered by the rain
Speaker 1: spring into being. There she spent some years, But after
Speaker 1: the new wife had been burnt by the Colchian witchcraft,
Speaker 1: and two seas had seen the king's crown palace all aflame,
Speaker 1: then savagely she drew her sword and bathed it in
Speaker 1: the blood of her own infant sons, by which atrocious
Speaker 1: act she was revenged, and she, a wife and mother,
Speaker 1: fled the sword of her own husband, Jason, on the
Speaker 1: wings of her enchanted titan dragons born. She made a
Speaker 1: escape securely, nor delayed until she entered the defended walls
Speaker 1: of Great Minerva's city at the hour when aged Periphas,
Speaker 1: transformed by Jove, together with his queen, on eagle wings,
Speaker 1: flew over its encircling walls, with whom the guilty halcione
Speaker 1: skimming seas safely escaped upon her balanced wings. And after
Speaker 1: these events, Medea went to Ageus, king of Athens, where
Speaker 1: she found protection from her enemies for all this evil
Speaker 1: done with added wickedness, Aegeus, after that united him to
Speaker 1: her in marriage. All unknown to him came theseus to
Speaker 1: his kingly court. Before the time his valor had established
Speaker 1: peace on all the isthmus raved by dual seas, Medea,
Speaker 1: seeking his destruction, brewed the juice of aconite, infesting shores
Speaker 1: of Scivia, where'tis fabled the plant grew on soil infected
Speaker 1: by kerbarian teeth. There is a glue boomy entrance to
Speaker 1: a cave that follows a declivitous descent. There, Hercules, with
Speaker 1: chains of adamant, dragged him from the dreary edge of Tartarus.
Speaker 1: That monster watchdog Cerberus, which vain opposing, turned his eyes
Speaker 1: aslant from light from dazzling day. Delirious. Enraged, that monster
Speaker 1: shook the air with triple howls and frothing sprinkled as
Speaker 1: it raved the fields once green with spewing of white
Speaker 1: poisoned foam, and this converted into plants, sucked up a
Speaker 1: deadly venom with the nourishment of former soils, from which
Speaker 1: productive grew upon the rock, thus formed the noxious plant
Speaker 1: by rustics. From that cause named aconite. Medeia worked on
Speaker 1: Aegeus to present his own son Theseus with a deadly
Speaker 1: cup of aconite, prevailing by her art, so that he
Speaker 1: deemed his son an enemy. Theseus unwittingly received the cup,
Speaker 1: but just before he touched it to his lips, his
Speaker 1: father recognized the sword he wore for graven on its
Speaker 1: eye hilt was rotten, known device, the token of his race. Astonished,
Speaker 1: a Geas struck the poison cup from his devoted son's
Speaker 1: confiding lips. Medea suddenly escaped from death in a dark whirlwind.
Speaker 1: Her witch singing raised recoiling from such utter wickedness. Rejoicing
Speaker 1: that his son escaped from death, the grateful father kindled
Speaker 1: altar fires and gave rich treasure to the living gods.
Speaker 1: He slaughtered scores of oxen, decked with flowers and gilded horns.
Speaker 1: The sun has never shone upon a day more famous
Speaker 1: in that land, for all the elders and the common
Speaker 1: folk united in festivities with wine, inspiring wit and song.
Speaker 1: Oh you, they sang, immortal theseus. Victory was yours. Did
Speaker 1: you not slaughter the huge bowl of crete? Yes, you
Speaker 1: did slay the boar of chromeon where now the peasant
Speaker 1: unmolested plows and parafetes. Wielder of the club, was worsted
Speaker 1: when he struggled with your strength and fierce procrustes match
Speaker 1: with you beside the rapid river met his death. And
Speaker 1: even Kerchion in Eleusis lost his wicked life inferior to
Speaker 1: your might. And sinnis a monstrosity of strength who bent
Speaker 1: the trunks of trees and used his might against the
Speaker 1: world for everything that's wrong, for evil, he would force
Speaker 1: down the earth pine tops to shoot men's bodies through
Speaker 1: the air. Even the road to Megara is safe for
Speaker 1: you did hurl the robber skier on sheer over the cliff.
Speaker 1: Both land and sea denied his bone's a resting place.
Speaker 1: As tossed about, they changed into the cliffs that bear
Speaker 1: his name. How can we tell the number of your deeds,
Speaker 1: deeds glorious that now exceed your years. For you, brave hero,
Speaker 1: we give public thanks and prayers to you. We drain
Speaker 1: our cups of wine, and all the palace rings with
Speaker 1: happy songs and with the grateful prayers of all the people.
Speaker 1: And sorrow in that city is not known, but pleasure
Speaker 1: always is alloyed with grief, and sorrow mingles in the
Speaker 1: joyous hour. While the king Aegeus and his son rejoiced,
Speaker 1: Minos prepared for war. He was invincible in men and ships,
Speaker 1: and stronger in his rage to wreak due vengeance on
Speaker 1: the king who slew his son and Drogius. But first
Speaker 1: he sought some friends to aid his warfare, and he
Speaker 1: scoured the sea with a swift fleet, which was his strength.
Speaker 1: A Naffi an Istopalia both agreed to join his cause,
Speaker 1: the first one moved by promises, the second by his threats.
Speaker 1: Level Myconus and the chalky fields of Kimolus agreed to aid,
Speaker 1: and Syros covered with wild thyme, level Seraphos Paros of
Speaker 1: Marble Cliffs, and that place which Arnie the impious Scythonian
Speaker 1: had betrayed, who, having got the gold which in her
Speaker 1: greed she had demanded, was changed to a bird, which
Speaker 1: ever since that day imagines gold its chief delight, a blackfoot,
Speaker 1: black twinged daw. But Olearus did de my and Tenos, Gillaros,
Speaker 1: Andros and Peparethos rich in its glossi Olives gave no
Speaker 1: aid to the strong Cretan fleet sailing from them. Mynos
Speaker 1: went to Enopia, known realm of the Iachidai. Men of
Speaker 1: old time had called the place Enopia, but Iachis styled
Speaker 1: it a Yina, from his mother's name. At his approach,
Speaker 1: an eager rabble rushed, resolved to see and know so
Speaker 1: great a man. Telemon met him and his brother younger
Speaker 1: than Telemon, and Phocis, who was third in age. Even
Speaker 1: Iachis appeared slow with the weight of years, and asked
Speaker 1: him what could be a reason for his coming there,
Speaker 1: the ruler of a hundred cities side, and as he
Speaker 1: beheld the sons of Iachus, for they reminded him of
Speaker 1: his lost son, and heavy with his sorrow, he replied,
Speaker 1: I come imploring you to take up arms and aid
Speaker 1: me in the war against my foes, for I must
Speaker 1: give that comfort to the shade of my misfortuned son,
Speaker 1: whose blood they shed. But Iachus replied to Minos, nay,
Speaker 1: it is a vain request you make, for we are
Speaker 1: bound in strict alliance to the land and people of Kekropia.
Speaker 1: Full of rage because he was denied, the King of Crete, Minas,
Speaker 1: as he departed from their shores, replied, let such a
Speaker 1: treaty be your bane. And he departed with his crafty threat,
Speaker 1: believing it expedient not to waste his power in wars
Speaker 1: until the proper time. Before the ships of Crete had disappeared,
Speaker 1: before the mist and blue of waves concealed their fading
Speaker 1: outlines from the anxious throng which gathered on Enopian shores,
Speaker 1: a ship of Athens, covered with wide sails, appeared and
Speaker 1: anchored safely by their friendly shore. And presently the mighty Kephalus,
Speaker 1: well known through all that nation for his deeds, addressed
Speaker 1: them as he landed and declared the goodwill of his
Speaker 1: people him. The sons of Iachus remembered well, although they
Speaker 1: had not seen him for some untold years. They led
Speaker 1: him to their father's welcome home, and with him also
Speaker 1: his two comrades, went Clitus and Beauties, center of all eyes.
Speaker 1: The hero still retained his charm. The customary greetings were exchanged.
Speaker 1: The graceful hero, bearing in his hands a branch of
Speaker 1: olive from his native soil, delivered the Athenian message, which
Speaker 1: requested aid and offered for their thought the treaty and
Speaker 1: the ancestral league between their nations. And he added Minos
Speaker 1: sought not only conquest of the Athenian state, but sovereignty
Speaker 1: of all the states of Greece. And when this eloquence
Speaker 1: had shown his cause, with left hand on his gleaming
Speaker 1: scepter's hilt, King Iiacus exclaimed, ask not our aid, but
Speaker 1: take it Athens, and count boldly yours of all the
Speaker 1: force this island holds, and all things which the state
Speaker 1: of my affairs supplies. My strength for this war is
Speaker 1: not light, and I have many soldiers for myself and
Speaker 1: for my enemy. Thanks to the gods, the times are happy,
Speaker 1: giving no way for my refusal. May it prove so,
Speaker 1: Kephalus replied, and may your city multiply in men. Just now,
Speaker 1: as I was landing, I rejoiced to meet youths fair
Speaker 1: and matched in age, And yet I miss among them
Speaker 1: many whom I saw before when I last visited your city.
Speaker 1: Iachus then groaned and with sad voice, replied with weeping
Speaker 1: we began, but better fortune followed, would that I could
Speaker 1: tell the last of it, and not the first, Giving
Speaker 1: my heart command that simple words and briefly spoken may
Speaker 1: not long detain those happy youths who waited at your need,
Speaker 1: who smiled upon you, and for whom you ask, because
Speaker 1: their absence grieves your noble mind. They've perished, and their
Speaker 1: bleaching bones or scattered ashes only may remain sad remnants,
Speaker 1: impotent of vanished power. So recently my hope and my resource.
Speaker 1: Because this island bears a rival's shame, a deadly pestilence
Speaker 1: was visited on my confiding people through the rage of
Speaker 1: jealous juno flaming for revenge. This great calamity at first
Speaker 1: appeared in natural disease, but soon its power baffled our
Speaker 1: utmost efforts. Medicines availing naught. A rain of terror swept
Speaker 1: from shore to shore, and fearful havoc raged. Thick darkness
Speaker 1: gathered from descending skies enveloped our devoted land with heat
Speaker 1: and languid sickness. For the space of full four moons,
Speaker 1: four times, the moon increased her size. Hot south winds
Speaker 1: blue with pestilential breath upon us. At the same time,
Speaker 1: the diseased infection reached our kneaded springs and pools. Thousands
Speaker 1: of serpents crawled over our Disease at first was limited
Speaker 1: to death of dogs and birds and cattle, or among
Speaker 1: wild beasts. The luckless plowman marvels when he sees his
Speaker 1: strong bulls fall while at their task and sink down
Speaker 1: into the furrow. Wooly flocks bleat feebly while their wolf
Speaker 1: falls off without a cause, and while their bodies pine away.
Speaker 1: The prized horse, of high courage and of great renown,
Speaker 1: when on the racecourse, has now lost victorious spirit, and,
Speaker 1: forgetting his remembered glory, groans in his shut stall, doomed
Speaker 1: for glorious death. The boar forgets to rage, the stag
Speaker 1: to trust his speed, and even the famished bear to
Speaker 1: fight the stronger herd. Death seizes on the vitals of
Speaker 1: all life, and in the woods and in the fields
Speaker 1: and roads, the loathsome bodies of the dead corrupt the
Speaker 1: heavy hanging air. Even the dogs, the vultures, and the
Speaker 1: wolves refuse to touch the putrid flesh. There in the
Speaker 1: sultry sun, rotting upon the earth, emitting steams and exhalations
Speaker 1: with a baneful sweep, increasing the dead contagion's wide extent,
Speaker 1: so spreading with renewed destruction gained from its own poison,
Speaker 1: The fierce pestilence appeared to leap from molding carcasses of
Speaker 1: all the brute creation, till it struck the wretched tillers
Speaker 1: of the soil, and then extend and in its dominion
Speaker 1: over all this mighty city. Always it began as if
Speaker 1: the patient's bowels were scorched with flames. Red blotches on
Speaker 1: the body next appeared, and sharp pains, and the lungs
Speaker 1: prevented breath. The swollen tongue would presently loll out, rough
Speaker 1: and discolored from the gaping mouth, wide gasping to inhale
Speaker 1: the noxious air, and show red throbbing veins. The softest
Speaker 1: bed and richest covering gave to none relief, but rather
Speaker 1: the disease would bear himself to cool his burning flesh
Speaker 1: upon the ground, only to heat the earth, and no
Speaker 1: relief returned, and no physician could be found, for those
Speaker 1: who ministered among the sick were first to suffer from
Speaker 1: the dread disease. The cruel malady broke out upon the
Speaker 1: very ones who offered remedies. The hallowed art of medicine
Speaker 1: became a deadly snare to those who knew it best.
Speaker 1: The only safety was in flight, and those who were
Speaker 1: the nearest to the stricken ones, and who most faithfully
Speaker 1: observed their wants, were always first to suffer as their wards,
Speaker 1: and many certain of approaching death, indulged their wicked passions, recklessly,
Speaker 1: abandoned and without the sense of shame, promiscuously huddled by
Speaker 1: the wells and rivers and cool fountains. But their thirst
Speaker 1: no water could assuage, and death alone was able to
Speaker 1: extinguish their desire. Too weak to rise, they die in
Speaker 1: water they pollute while others drink its death. A madness
Speaker 1: seizing on them made their beds become most irksome to
Speaker 1: their tortured nerves. Demented, they could not endure the pain
Speaker 1: and leaped insanely forth or if too weak, the wretches
Speaker 1: rolled their bodies on the ground, insistent to escape from
Speaker 1: hated homes, imagined sources of calamity, for since the cause
Speaker 1: was hidden and unknown, the horrible locality was blamed. Suspicion
Speaker 1: seizes on each frail presence as proof of what can
Speaker 1: never be resolved. And many half dead wretches staggered out
Speaker 1: on sultry roads as long as they could stand, and others,
Speaker 1: weeping stretched out on the ground, died in convulsions as
Speaker 1: their rolling eyes gazed upwards over the overhanging clouds, under
Speaker 1: the sad stars, they breathed out their souls. And oh,
Speaker 1: the deep despair that seized on me, the sovereign of
Speaker 1: that wretched people, I was tortured with a passionate desire
Speaker 1: to die the same death, and I hated life. No
Speaker 1: matter where my shrinking eyes were turned, I saw a
Speaker 1: multitude of gruesome forms and ghastly attitudes bestrew the ground,
Speaker 1: scattered as rotten apples they have dropped from moving branches,
Speaker 1: or as acorns thick and around with gnarled oak. Lift
Speaker 1: up your eyes, behold that holy temple unto Jove, long
Speaker 1: dedicated what availed the prayers of frightened multitudes, or incense
Speaker 1: burned on those devoted altars in the midst of his
Speaker 1: most fervent supplications. The husband, as he pled for his
Speaker 1: dear wife, or the fond father for his stricken son,
Speaker 1: would suddenly, before a word prevailed, die, clutching at the
Speaker 1: altar of his gods, while holding in his stiffened hand
Speaker 1: a spray of frankencense, still waiting for the fire. How
Speaker 1: often sacrificial bulls had been brought to those temples, and
Speaker 1: while white robed priest was pouring offered wine between their horns,
Speaker 1: have fallen without waiting for the stroke. While I prepared
Speaker 1: a sacrifice to Jove for my behalf, my country and
Speaker 1: three sons. The victim, ever moaning dismal sounds before a
Speaker 1: blow was struck, fell suddenly beside the altar, and his
Speaker 1: scanty blood ran thinly from his knives that slaughtered him.
Speaker 1: His entrails, wanting all the marks of truth, were so
Speaker 1: diseased the warnings of the gods could not be read.
Speaker 1: That baneful malady had penetrated to the heart of life.
Speaker 1: And I have seen the carcasses of men lie rotting
Speaker 1: at the sacred temple gates, or by the very altars
Speaker 1: where they fell, making death odious to the living gods.
Speaker 1: And after I have seen some desperate man and life
Speaker 1: by his own halter, and so cheat by voluntary death.
Speaker 1: His fear of death in mad haste to outrun approaching fate.
Speaker 1: The bodies of the dead indecently were cast forth, lacking
Speaker 1: sacred funeral rites. As hitherto the custom, all the gates
Speaker 1: were crowded with processions of the dead. Unburied, they might
Speaker 1: lie upon the ground, or else deserted on their lofty pyres,
Speaker 1: with no one to lament their dismal end, dissolve in
Speaker 1: their dishonored ashes, all restraint forgotten. A mad rabble thought
Speaker 1: and took possession of the burning pyres. And even the
Speaker 1: dead were ravished by their rest And who should mourn them?
Speaker 1: Wanting all the souls of sons and husbands, and of
Speaker 1: old and young must wander unlamented, And the land sufficed
Speaker 1: not for the crowded sepulchers, and the dense forest was
Speaker 1: denuded of all trees. Heartbroken at the sight of this
Speaker 1: great woe, I wailed, oh Jupiter, if truth were told
Speaker 1: of your sweet comfort in Agina's arms, if you were
Speaker 1: not ashamed of me, your son, restore my people, or
Speaker 1: in toomb my corpse, that I may suffer as the
Speaker 1: ones I love. Great lightning flashed around me, and the
Speaker 1: sound of thunder proved that my complaint was heard. Accepting it,
Speaker 1: I cried, let these great Jove, the happy signs of
Speaker 1: your ascent be shown. Good omens given as a sacred pledge. Nearby,
Speaker 1: a sacred oak tree grown from seed brought hither from
Speaker 1: the Dona, spread abroad, its branches thinly covered with green
Speaker 1: leaves and creeping as an army. On the tree, we
Speaker 1: saw a trail of ants that carried grain, half hidden
Speaker 1: in the deep and wrinkled bark. And while I wondered
Speaker 1: at the endless line, I thought, good, Father, give me
Speaker 1: citizens of equal number for my empty walls. Soon as
Speaker 1: I said those words, though not a wind was moving,
Speaker 1: nor a breeze, the lofty tree began to tremble, and
Speaker 1: I heard the sound of motion in its branches. Wonder
Speaker 1: not that sudden fear possessed me, and my hair began
Speaker 1: to rise, and I could hardly stand for so my
Speaker 1: weak knees tottered as I made obeisance to the soil
Speaker 1: and sacred tree. Perhaps I cherished in my heart a
Speaker 1: thought that not acknowledged, cheered me with some hope. At night,
Speaker 1: I lay exhausted by such thoughts. A deep sleep seized
Speaker 1: my body. But the tree seemed always present, to my gaze,
Speaker 1: distinct with all its branches. I could even see the
Speaker 1: birds among its leaves and from its boughs that trembled
Speaker 1: in the still air. Moving ants were scattered to the
Speaker 1: ground in troops below, and ever as they touched the soil,
Speaker 1: they grew larger and larger. As they raised themselves, they
Speaker 1: stood with upright bodies, and put off their lean shapes,
Speaker 1: and absorbed their many feet, and even as their dark
Speaker 1: brown color changed, their rounded forms took on a human shape.
Speaker 1: When my strange dream departed, I awoke, the vision vanished.
Speaker 1: I complained to Heaven against the idle comfort of such dreams.
Speaker 1: But as I voiced my own lament, I heard a
Speaker 1: mighty murmur echoing through the halls of my deserted palace,
Speaker 1: and a multitude of voices in confusion, where the sound
Speaker 1: of scarce an echo had disturbed the still deserted chambers
Speaker 1: for so many days. All this I thought the fancy
Speaker 1: of my dream, until my brave son telemon in haste,
Speaker 1: threw open the closed doorway, as he called, come quickly, father,
Speaker 1: and behold a sight beyond the utmost of your fondest dreams.
Speaker 1: I did go out, and there I saw such men,
Speaker 1: each in his turn, as I had seen transformed in
Speaker 1: that weird vision of the moving ants. They all advanced
Speaker 1: and hailed me as their king. So soon as I
Speaker 1: had offered vows to Jove, I subdivided the deserted farms
Speaker 1: and dwellings in the cities to these men miraculously raised,
Speaker 1: which now are called Mermidons, the living evidence of my
Speaker 1: strange vision. You have seen these men, and since that
Speaker 1: day their name has been declared decisive evidence that they
Speaker 1: have retained the well known customs of the days before
Speaker 1: their transformation. Patiently they toil, They store the profits of
Speaker 1: their labor, which they guard with valiant skill. They'll follow
Speaker 1: you to any war, well matched in years and courage.
Speaker 1: And I do promise when this east wind turns, this
Speaker 1: wind that favored you and brought you here, and when
Speaker 1: a south wind favors our design, then my brave Mermidons
Speaker 1: will go with you. This narrative and many other tales
Speaker 1: had occupied the day. As twilight fell, festivities were blended
Speaker 1: in the night. The night, in turn afforded sweet repose.
Speaker 1: Soon as the golden sun had shown its light, the
Speaker 1: east wind blowing still, the ships were stayed from sailing home,
Speaker 1: the sons of Pallas came to Kephalus, who was the
Speaker 1: elder called, and Kephalus, together with the sons of Pallas,
Speaker 1: went to see the king. Deep sleep still held the king,
Speaker 1: and Phocus, was the son of Iachus, received them at
Speaker 1: the gate instead of Telemon and Pelias, who were marshaling
Speaker 1: the men for war into the inner court and beautiful apartments.
Speaker 1: Focus conducted the Athenians, and they sat down together. Phocus
Speaker 1: then observed that Kephalus held in his hand a curious
Speaker 1: javelin with golden head and shaft of some rare wood.
Speaker 1: And as they talked, he said, it is my pleasure
Speaker 1: to explore the forest in the chase of startled game.
Speaker 1: And so I've learned the nature of rare woods. But
Speaker 1: never have I seen the match of this from which
Speaker 1: was fashioned this good javelin. It lacks the yellow tint
Speaker 1: of forest ash. It is not knotted like all cornerwood,
Speaker 1: although I cannot name the kind of wood. My eyes
Speaker 1: have never seen a javelin shaft so beautiful as this.
Speaker 1: To him, replied a friend of Kefalus, But you will
Speaker 1: find its beauty is not equal to its worth, For
Speaker 1: whatsoever it is aimed at. Its flight is always certain
Speaker 1: to the mark, nor is it subject to the shift
Speaker 1: of chance. And after it is struck, although no hand
Speaker 1: may cast it back, it certainly returns blood stained with
Speaker 1: every victim. Then, indeed, was focus anxious to be told
Speaker 1: whence came and who had given such a precious gift.
Speaker 1: And Kefyalus appeared to tell him all, but craftily was
Speaker 1: silent on one strange condition of the fatal gift. As
Speaker 1: he recalled the mournful fate of his dear wife, his
Speaker 1: eyes filled up with tears. Ah pity me, he said,
Speaker 1: if fate should grant me many years, I must weep
Speaker 1: every time that I regard this weapon which has been
Speaker 1: my cause of tears, the unforgiven death of my dear wife.
Speaker 1: Ah that I have never handled it. My sweet wife,
Speaker 1: pro Chris, if you could compare her beauty with her
Speaker 1: sisters or Athea's ravished by the blustering boreas, you would
Speaker 1: declare my wife more beautiful? Tis she her sire Erectheus
Speaker 1: joined to me? Tis she the god Love also joined
Speaker 1: to me. They called me happy, and in truth I was,
Speaker 1: and all pronounced us so until the gods decreed it otherwise,
Speaker 1: two joyful months of our united love were almost passed when,
Speaker 1: as the gray light of the dawn dispelled upon the
Speaker 1: summit of Hymetus Green, Aurora, glorious in her golden robes,
Speaker 1: observed me busy with encircling nets, trapping the antlered deer
Speaker 1: against my will. Incited by desire, she carried me away
Speaker 1: with her. Oh, let me we not increase her anger,
Speaker 1: For I tell you what is true. I found no
Speaker 1: comfort in her lovely face. And though she is very
Speaker 1: queen of light and reins upon the edge of shadowy space,
Speaker 1: where she is nourished on rich nectar wine, adding delight
Speaker 1: to beauty, I could give no heed to her entreaties,
Speaker 1: for the thought of my beloved progress intervened, and only
Speaker 1: her sweet name was on my lips. I told Aurora
Speaker 1: of our wedding joys and all refreshing joys of love,
Speaker 1: and my first union, of my couch deserted now enraged
Speaker 1: against me, Then the goddess said, keep to your progress, aye,
Speaker 1: but trouble you, ungrateful clown. But if you can be warned,
Speaker 1: you will no longer wish for her. And so in anger,
Speaker 1: she returned me to my wife alas I retraced the
Speaker 1: weary way, long brooding over all, Aurora said, suspicion made
Speaker 1: me doubtful of my wife, so faithful and so fair,
Speaker 1: But many things reminding me of steadfast virtue. I suppressed
Speaker 1: all doubts till the dreadful thought of my long absence
Speaker 1: filled my jealous mind, from which I argued to the
Speaker 1: criminal advances of Aurora. For if she so lovely an
Speaker 1: appearance did conceal such passion in the garb of innocence
Speaker 1: until the moment of temptation, how could I be certain
Speaker 1: of the purity of even the strongest when the best
Speaker 1: are frail, so brooding. Every effort I devised to cause
Speaker 1: my own undoing by the means of bribing presence, favored
Speaker 1: by disguise, I sought to win her guarded chastity. Aurora
Speaker 1: had disguised me, and her guile determined me to work
Speaker 1: in subtle snares unknown to all my friends. I paced
Speaker 1: the streets of sacred Athens till I reached my home.
Speaker 1: I hoped to search out evidence of guilt, but everything
Speaker 1: seemed waiting my return, and all the household breathed an
Speaker 1: air of grief with difficulty, I disguised obtained an entrance
Speaker 1: to her presence by the use of artifices many And
Speaker 1: when I there saw her, silent in her grief, amazed
Speaker 1: my heart no longer prompted me to test such camp
Speaker 1: constant love. An infinite desire took hold upon me. I
Speaker 1: could scarce restrain an impulse to caress and kiss her
Speaker 1: pale with grief. That I was gone, Her lovely face
Speaker 1: in sorrow was more beautiful. The world has not another
Speaker 1: so divinely fair, Ah, focus, it is wonderful to think
Speaker 1: of beauty so surpassing fair. It seems more lovable in sorrow.
Speaker 1: Why relate to you? How often she repulsed my feigned
Speaker 1: attempts upon her virtue to each please? She said, I
Speaker 1: serve one man, no matter where he may be. I
Speaker 1: will keep my love for one who but a man
Speaker 1: insane with jealousy would doubt the virtue of a loving
Speaker 1: wife when tempted by the most insidious wiles, whose hallowed
Speaker 1: honor was her husband's love. But I, not satisfied with
Speaker 1: proof complete, would not abandon my depraved desire to poison
Speaker 1: the pure fountain I should guard. Increased my temptations, I
Speaker 1: caused her to hesitate and covet a rich gift. Then,
Speaker 1: angered at my own success, I said, discarding all disguise,
Speaker 1: behold the man whose lavish promise you have established proof
Speaker 1: the witness of your shameful treachery. Your absent husband has
Speaker 1: returned to this Unable to endure a ruined home where
Speaker 1: desecration held her sin to view. Despairing and in silent shame,
Speaker 1: she fled, and I, the author of that wickedness, ran after.
Speaker 1: But enraged at my deceit and hating all mankind, she
Speaker 1: wandered far in wildest mountains, hunting the wild game. I
Speaker 1: grieved at her desertion, and the fires of my neglected
Speaker 1: love consumed my health with greater violence. My love increased, until,
Speaker 1: unable to endure such pain, I begged forgiveness and acknowledged fault,
Speaker 1: nor hesitated to declare that I might yield the same way,
Speaker 1: tempted if such great gifts had been offered to me.
Speaker 1: When I had made abject confession and she had avenged
Speaker 1: her outraged feelings, she came back to me, and we
Speaker 1: spent golden gears and harmony. She gave to me the
Speaker 1: hound she fondly loved the very one Diana gave to her,
Speaker 1: when lovingly the Goddess had declared, this hound above all others,
Speaker 1: shall excel in speed. Nor was that gift the only
Speaker 1: one was given by kind Diana when my wife was hers.
Speaker 1: As you may guess, this javelin I hold forth no
Speaker 1: other but a goddess could bestow. Would you be told
Speaker 1: the story of both gifts, Attend my words, and you
Speaker 1: shall be amazed. For never such another sad event has
Speaker 1: added sorrow to the grieving world. After the son of Lias,
Speaker 1: Oedipus had solved the riddle of the monster Sphinx, so
Speaker 1: often baffling to the wits of men, and after she
Speaker 1: had fallen from her hill, mangled forgetful of her riddling craft,
Speaker 1: not unrevenged, the mighty Famous brooked her loss without delay.
Speaker 1: That Goddess raised another savage beast to ravage thebes, by
Speaker 1: which the farmer's cattle were devoured. The land was ruined,
Speaker 1: and its people slain. Been All the valiant young men
Speaker 1: of the realm, with whom I also went enclosed the
Speaker 1: field where lurked the monster in a mesh of many
Speaker 1: tangled nets. But not a strand could stay its onrush,
Speaker 1: and it leaped over the crest of every barrier where
Speaker 1: the toils were set. Already they had urged their eager dogs, which,
Speaker 1: swiftly as a bird it left behind, eluding all the
Speaker 1: hunters it fled. At last all begged me to let
Speaker 1: slip the leash of straining tempest. Such I called the hound,
Speaker 1: my wife's dear present. As he tugged and pulled upon
Speaker 1: the tightened cords, I let them slip. No sooner done
Speaker 1: than he was lost to sight. Although wherever struck his
Speaker 1: rapid feet the hot dust world, not swifter flies the spear,
Speaker 1: nor whizzing bullet from the twisted sling, nor feathered arrow
Speaker 1: from the twanging bow. A high hill jutted from a
Speaker 1: rolling plain, on which I mounted to enjoy the sight
Speaker 1: of that unequall'd chase. One caught the next. As surely free,
Speaker 1: the wild beast seemed now here now there, elusive in
Speaker 1: its flight, swiftly sped onward, or with sudden turn, doubled
Speaker 1: in circles to deceive or gain, with equal speed, pursuing
Speaker 1: at each turn, the rapid hound could neither gain nor lose.
Speaker 1: Now springing forward and now doubling back. His great speed foiled.
Speaker 1: He snapped at empty air. I then turned to my
Speaker 1: javelin's aid, and while I poised it in my right hand,
Speaker 1: turned away my gaze a moment as I sought to
Speaker 1: twine my practiced fingers in the guiding throngs. But when
Speaker 1: again I lifted up my eyes to cast the javelin
Speaker 1: where the monster sped, I saw two marble statues standing there,
Speaker 1: transformed upon the plane. One statue seemed to strain an
Speaker 1: attitude of rapid flight, the other, with wide open jaws,
Speaker 1: was changed just in the act of barking and pursuit.
Speaker 1: Surely some god, if any god, controls, decreed both equal.
Speaker 1: Neither could succeed. Now, after these miraculous events, it seemed
Speaker 1: he wished to stop, but focus said, what charge have
Speaker 1: you against the javelin, and Caphalus rejoined. I must relate
Speaker 1: my sorrow's last, for I would tell you first of
Speaker 1: the story of my joys. TiO sweet to think upon
Speaker 1: the gliding tide of those few years of married life,
Speaker 1: when my dear wife and I were happy in our
Speaker 1: love and confidence. No woman could allure me then from her,
Speaker 1: and even Venus could not tempt my love all. My
Speaker 1: great passion for my dearest wife was equalled by the
Speaker 1: passion she returned. As early as the sun, when golden
Speaker 1: rays first glittered on the mountains, I would rise in
Speaker 1: youthful ardor to explore the fields in search of game.
Speaker 1: With no companions, hounds, nor steeds, nor nets. This javelin
Speaker 1: was alone my safety and companion in sport. And often
Speaker 1: when my right hand felt its weight, a wearied of
Speaker 1: the slaughter it had caused, I would come back to
Speaker 1: rest in the cool ship and breezes from cool veils,
Speaker 1: the breeze I wooed, blowing so gently on me in
Speaker 1: the heat, the breeze I waited for. She was my
Speaker 1: rest from labor. I remember, Aura, Come, I used to say,
Speaker 1: Come soothe me, Come into my breast, most welcome one.
Speaker 1: And yes, indeed you do relieve that heat from which
Speaker 1: I burn. And as I felt the sweet breeze of
Speaker 1: the morn, as if in answer to my song, my
Speaker 1: fate impelled me further to declare my joy in song.
Speaker 1: You are my comfort, you are my delight, refresh me,
Speaker 1: cherish me, breathe on my face. I love you, child
Speaker 1: of lonely haunts and trees such words. I once was singing,
Speaker 1: not aware of someone spying on me from the trees.
Speaker 1: Who thought I sang to some beloved nymphort goddess by
Speaker 1: the name of Aura. So I always called the breeze
Speaker 1: unhappy man. The meddling tell tale went to Prochris with
Speaker 1: a story of supposed unfaithfulness, and slyly told in whispers.
Speaker 1: All he heard true love is credulous. And as I
Speaker 1: heard the story, Prochrius in swoon fell down. When she
Speaker 1: awakened from her bitter swoon, she ceased, not wailing her
Speaker 1: unhappy fate, and wretched moaned for an imagined woe. So
Speaker 1: she lamented what was never done, her woe incited by
Speaker 1: a whispered tale. She feared the fiction of a harmless name,
Speaker 1: but hope returning soothed her wretched state. And, now no
Speaker 1: longer willing to believe such wrong unless her own eyes
Speaker 1: saw it, she refused to think her husband sinned. When
Speaker 1: dawn had banished night, and I, rejoicing ranged the breathing woods,
Speaker 1: victorious in the hunt, paused and said, come, our lovely
Speaker 1: breathe relieve my panting breast. It seemed I heard the
Speaker 1: smothered moans of sorrow as I spoke, but not conceiving harm,
Speaker 1: I said again, come here, oh my delight, And as
Speaker 1: those words fell from my lips, I thought I heard
Speaker 1: a soft sound in the thicket of moving leaves, and
Speaker 1: thinking surely twas a hidden beast, I threw this winged
Speaker 1: javelin at the spot. It was my own wife, Prochris,
Speaker 1: and the shaft was buried in her breast. Ah wretched me,
Speaker 1: she cried, and when I heard her well known voice distracted,
Speaker 1: I ran towards her, only to find her bathed in
Speaker 1: blood and dying from the wound of that same javelin
Speaker 1: she had given to me, And in her agony, she
Speaker 1: drew it forth, ah me alas from her dear tender side.
Speaker 1: I lifted her limp body to my own in these
Speaker 1: blood guilty arms, and wrapped the wound with fragments of
Speaker 1: my tunic that I tore in haste to staunch her blood.
Speaker 1: And all the while I moaned, Oh, do not forsake me.
Speaker 1: Slain by my accursed hands, weak with the loss of
Speaker 1: blood and dying, she compelled herself to utter these few words,
Speaker 1: It is my death, but let my eyes not close
Speaker 1: upon this life. Before I plead with you by the
Speaker 1: dearest ties of sacred marriage, by your God and mine,
Speaker 1: and if my love for you can move your heart,
Speaker 1: and even by the cause of my sad death, my
Speaker 1: love for you increasing as I die, Ah put away
Speaker 1: that Aura you have called, that she may never separate
Speaker 1: your soul, your love from me. So by those dying words,
Speaker 1: I knew that she had heard me call the name
Speaker 1: of Aura when I wished the cooling breeze, and thought
Speaker 1: I called a goddess cause of all her jealous sorrow
Speaker 1: and my bitter woe. Alas too late, I told her
Speaker 1: the sad truth. But she was sinking, and her little
Speaker 1: strength swiftly was ebbing with her flowing blood. As long
Speaker 1: as life remained, her loving gaze was fixed on mine,
Speaker 1: and her unhappy life at last was breathed out on
Speaker 1: my grieving face. It seemed to me a look of
Speaker 1: sweet content was in her face, as if she feared
Speaker 1: not death. In tears. He folds these things, And as
Speaker 1: they wept, came the aged monarch Iachus, and with the
Speaker 1: monarch his two valiant sons and troops new levied trained
Speaker 1: to glorious arms. Oh, nerds, nerds, Nerds. That was a
Speaker 1: long one. It was wordy few my uh throughout herds,
Speaker 1: but hey, it's madea so who are we to complain?
Speaker 1: I mean, fine, there's some theseus in there too, but
Speaker 1: what can you do. There's some interesting other bits and
Speaker 1: pieces in there, like the story of Capitalists, which I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure I've told before. It's sad, but also he's
Speaker 1: an ass, you know, it's all sometimes it all bursts
Speaker 1: together and the murmodons, those little ants, those are just
Speaker 1: so fun. I love these readings because, for all it's
Speaker 1: fun and fasting to like retell the stories in my
Speaker 1: own way, it's really something else to entirely hear the
Speaker 1: source itself, particularly when it comes to Avid, because it's great.
Speaker 1: So it's really just extra fun for me when I
Speaker 1: get to toss these episodes in now and again, hob
Speaker 1: it's worth it. Let's talk about this. This maybe is
Speaker 1: written produced by me Live Albert MICHAELA. Smith is the
Speaker 1: Hermes to my Olympians. She handles everything. She's the best.
Speaker 1: Stephanie Foley is also the best. She works to transcribe
Speaker 1: the podcast for YouTube captions and accessibility. The podcast is
Speaker 1: hosted Montaze by iHeartMedia and that stuff about Patreon. My
Speaker 1: throat is done. Thank you all. You are the best.
Speaker 1: I am leave and I really do love this this
Speaker 1: Roman guy, just this one Alvin. He was chill.