Speaker 1: Oh hi, hello there, this is let's talk about mits baby,
Speaker 1: and I am your host live who just seriously loves
Speaker 1: reading things aloud and has forced it all upon you,
Speaker 1: which to great success. Yes, that's right, we're back reading
Speaker 1: Avid because guess what I want to and I can
Speaker 1: and it's OVID. It's metamorphoses. They're amazing, so many transformations,
Speaker 1: so much tragedy, such good stories. And God's guess what
Speaker 1: we've got today? A Rackney bitches. That's right. Today's includes
Speaker 1: Minerva Athena and a Rackney I eat, one of the
Speaker 1: best stories that exists in this book. It's incredible. But
Speaker 1: before you get too excited, I do also want to
Speaker 1: warn you all that this book contains the story of Prockney,
Speaker 1: Philamela and Terrius, which is the most fucked up story
Speaker 1: of all time. I've covered it on the show before,
Speaker 1: so many of you might remember how horrifying it is.
Speaker 1: But a reminder or a warning to anyone else, so
Speaker 1: it comes after the music break in this episode on
Speaker 1: the second half of the reading. It's seriously triggering and
Speaker 1: horrifying for a whole host of reasons, but a graphic
Speaker 1: assault is the main one. I don't know how this
Speaker 1: translation handles it because I guess as another reminder, this
Speaker 1: is an old translation I have to work with in
Speaker 1: order for it to be public domain. It may or
Speaker 1: may not be less horrifying. We'll see, but either way,
Speaker 1: please be aware because while so many myths do include
Speaker 1: this topic, this one is totally something else. But it
Speaker 1: is still Avid, so he somehow makes this horror and
Speaker 1: trauma beautiful in his own way. But I wanted you
Speaker 1: warrant still a Rackney, so at least you can listen
Speaker 1: to the first half if you're worried. This is Avid's Metamorphoses,
Speaker 1: Book six, translated by brooks More. All this Minerva heard,
Speaker 1: and she approved their songs and their resentment, but her
Speaker 1: heart was brooding. Thus it is an easy thing to
Speaker 1: praise another. I should do as they. No creature of
Speaker 1: the earth should ever slight the majesty that dwells in
Speaker 1: me without just retribution. So her thought was turned upon
Speaker 1: the four tune of a Rakney, proud who would not
Speaker 1: ever yield to her the praise won by the art
Speaker 1: of deftly weaving wool, a girl who had not fame
Speaker 1: for place of birth, nor fame in birth, but only
Speaker 1: fame for skill, For it was well known that her
Speaker 1: father dwelt in colophon, where at his humble trade he
Speaker 1: died in Fikaian Purple's fleecy wool. Her mother, also of
Speaker 1: the lower class, had died a rakney in a mountain town.
Speaker 1: By skill had grown so famous in the land of
Speaker 1: Lydia that unnumbered curious nymphs, eager to witness her dexterity,
Speaker 1: deserted the lush vineyards of Timlus, or even left the
Speaker 1: cool and flowing streams of bright Pactolus to admire the
Speaker 1: cloth or to observe her deftly spinning wool. So graceful
Speaker 1: was her motion, then if she was twisting the coarse
Speaker 1: wool in little balls, or if she teased it with
Speaker 1: her finger tips, or if she softened the fine fleece
Speaker 1: drawn forth in misty films, or if she twirled the
Speaker 1: smooth round spindle with her energetic thumb, or if with
Speaker 1: the needle she embroidered cloth. In all her motions, one
Speaker 1: might well perceive how much Minerva had instructed her. But
Speaker 1: this she, ever would deny, displeased to share her fame,
Speaker 1: and said, let her contend in art with me. And
Speaker 1: if her skill prevails, I then will forfeit all. Minerva
Speaker 1: heard and came to her, disguised with long gray hair,
Speaker 1: and with a staff to steady her weak limbs. She
Speaker 1: seemed a feeble woman, very old and quavered, as she said,
Speaker 1: old age is not the cause of every ill. Experience
Speaker 1: comes with lengthened years, and therefore you should not despise
Speaker 1: my words. It is no harm in you to long
Speaker 1: for praise of mortals when your nimble hands are spinning
Speaker 1: the soft wool. But you should not deny Minerva's art,
Speaker 1: and you should pray that she may pardon you, for
Speaker 1: she will grant you pardon if you ask. A Rackney,
Speaker 1: scowling with an evil face, looked at the goddess. As
Speaker 1: she dropped her thread. She hardly could restrain her threatening hand,
Speaker 1: and trembling in her anger, she replied to you, disguised Minerva,
Speaker 1: silly fool, worn out and witless in your pulsed age.
Speaker 1: A great age is your great misfortune. Let your daughter
Speaker 1: and your son's wife, if the gods have blessed you,
Speaker 1: let them profit by your words. Within myself my knowledge
Speaker 1: is contained sufficient. You will not believe that your advice
Speaker 1: does any good for I am quite unchanged in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Get you gone, advise your goddess to come here herself,
Speaker 1: and not avoid the contest. Instantly the goddess said, Minerva
Speaker 1: comes to you, and with those brief words, put aside
Speaker 1: the shape of the old woman and revealed herself, Minerva Goddess.
Speaker 1: All the other nymphs and patrons of Migdonia worshiped her,
Speaker 1: but not a Rakney, who defiant stood, although at first
Speaker 1: she flushed up, then went pale, then blushed again reluctant.
Speaker 1: So at first the sky suffuses as Aurora moves, and quickly,
Speaker 1: when the glorious sun comes up, pales into white. She
Speaker 1: even rushed upon her own destruction, for she would not
Speaker 1: give from her desire to gain the victory. Nor did
Speaker 1: the daughter of Almighty Jove decline. Disdaining to delay with words,
Speaker 1: she hesitated not, and both at once selected their positions,
Speaker 1: stretched their webs with finest warp, and separated warp with sleigh.
Speaker 1: The woolf was next inserted in the web by means
Speaker 1: of the sharp shuttles, which their nimble fingers pushed along,
Speaker 1: so drawn within the warp, and so the teeth notched
Speaker 1: in the moving sleigh might strike them. Both in haste
Speaker 1: girded their garments to their breasts and moved their skillful arms,
Speaker 1: beguiling their fatigue in eager action. Myriad tints appeared beside
Speaker 1: the Tyrian purple royal dye extracted in brass vessels. As
Speaker 1: the bow that spans the new Glory and the curving sky.
Speaker 1: Its glittering rays reflected in the rain, spreads out a
Speaker 1: multitude of blended tints in scintillating beauty to the sight
Speaker 1: of all who gaze upon it. So the threads inwoven
Speaker 1: mingled in a thousand tints, harmonious and contrasting shot with gold,
Speaker 1: and there depicted in those shining webs, were shown the
Speaker 1: histories of ancient days. Minerva worked the Athenian Hill of Mars,
Speaker 1: where ancient key Crops built his citadel, and showed the
Speaker 1: old contention for the name it should be given. Twelve
Speaker 1: celestial gods surrounded Jupiter on lofty thrones, and all their
Speaker 1: features were so nicely drawn that each could be distinguished.
Speaker 1: Jupiter appeared as monarch of those judging gods. Bare Neptune,
Speaker 1: guardian of the Sea, was shown contending with Minerva as
Speaker 1: he struck the rock with his long trident. A wild
Speaker 1: horse sprang forth, which he bequeathed to man. He claimed
Speaker 1: his right to name the city for that gift. And
Speaker 1: then she wove a portrait of herself, bearing a shield
Speaker 1: and in her hand a lance sharp pointed, and a
Speaker 1: helmet on her head, her breast well guarded by her aegis.
Speaker 1: There she struck her spear into the fertile earth, from
Speaker 1: which a branch of olive seemed to sprout, pale with
Speaker 1: new clustered fruits, And those twelve gods appeared to judge
Speaker 1: that olive as a gift, surpassed the horse which Neptune
Speaker 1: gave to man. And so a Rackney rival of her
Speaker 1: fame might learn the folly of her mad attempt from
Speaker 1: the great deeds of ancient histories, and what a ward
Speaker 1: presumption must expect. Minerva wove four corners with life scenes
Speaker 1: of contest, brightly colored but of size tominiative. In one
Speaker 1: of these was shown the snow clad mountains Rhodopee and highmus, which,
Speaker 1: for punishment, were changed from human beings to those rigid
Speaker 1: forms when they aspired to rival the high gods. And
Speaker 1: in another corner she described that pygmy, whose angry Juno
Speaker 1: changed from queen ship to a crane. Because she thought
Speaker 1: herself an equal of the living gods, she was commanded
Speaker 1: to wage cruel wars upon her former subjects. In the
Speaker 1: third she wove the story of Antigony, who dared compare
Speaker 1: herself to Juno, Queen of Jupiter, and showed her as
Speaker 1: she was transformed into a silly, chattering stork that praised
Speaker 1: her beauty with her ugly beak, despite the powers of
Speaker 1: Ilon and her sire laumadon her shoulders fledged with white wings.
Speaker 1: And so the third part finished, there was left one
Speaker 1: corner where Minerva deftly worked the story of the father
Speaker 1: Kinnaras as he was weeping on the temple steps which
Speaker 1: once had been his daughter's living limbs. And she adorned
Speaker 1: the border with designs of peaceful olive her devoted tree, which,
Speaker 1: having shown, she made an end of work a rakney
Speaker 1: of Meonia wove at first the story of Europa as
Speaker 1: the bull deceived her, and so perfect was her art
Speaker 1: it seemed a real bull in real waves. Europa seemed
Speaker 1: to look back toward the land which she had left
Speaker 1: and call in her alarm to her companions, as if
Speaker 1: she feared the touch of dashing waters to draw up
Speaker 1: her timid feet while she was sitting on the bull's back,
Speaker 1: and she wove Asteria seized by the assaulting eagle, and
Speaker 1: beneath the swan's white wings. Showed Leda lying by the stream,
Speaker 1: and showed Jove dancing as a satyr when he sought
Speaker 1: the beautiful Antiope, to whom was given twins, and how
Speaker 1: he seemed amphytrion when he deceived Alcmene, and how he
Speaker 1: courted lovely Dana, luring her as a gleaming shower of gold,
Speaker 1: and poor Ayena hidden in his flame, Jove a shepherd
Speaker 1: with nemosity, and beautiful Proserpina involved by him, apparent as
Speaker 1: a spotted snake and in her web. A rakney wove
Speaker 1: the scenes of Neptune, who was shown first as a
Speaker 1: bull when he was deep in love with Virgin Arnie,
Speaker 1: then as nippious when the giant twins the Allaudae were begot,
Speaker 1: and as the ram that gamboled with Bisaltis, as a
Speaker 1: horse loved by the fruitful carries golden haired all bounteous
Speaker 1: mother of the yellow grain, and as the bird that
Speaker 1: hovered round snake haired Medusa, mother of the winged horse,
Speaker 1: and as the dolphin sporting with the nymph Melantho. All
Speaker 1: of these were woven true to life in pro shades.
Speaker 1: And there she showed Apollo when disguised in various forms,
Speaker 1: or when he seemed a rustic, and as when he
Speaker 1: wore hawk wings, and then the tawny skin of a
Speaker 1: great lion, and once more when he deluded Issy as
Speaker 1: a shepherd lad. And there was Bacchis when he was
Speaker 1: disguised as a large cluster of fictitious grapes, deluding by that,
Speaker 1: while the beautiful Erginy and Saturn, as a steed begetter
Speaker 1: of the dual natured Chirn, and then Arakney, to complete
Speaker 1: her work, wove all around the web a patterned edge
Speaker 1: of interlacing flowers and ivy leaves. Minerva could not find
Speaker 1: a fleck or flaw. Even envy cannot censure perfect art.
Speaker 1: Enraged because Aracney had such scale, she ripped the web
Speaker 1: and ruined all the scenes that showed those wicked actions
Speaker 1: of the gods, and with her boxwood shuttle in her hand,
Speaker 1: struck the unhappy mortal on her head, struck sharply thrice,
Speaker 1: and even once again, a Rakney's spirit, deigning not to
Speaker 1: brook such insult, brooded on it till she tied a
Speaker 1: cord around her neck and hung herself. Minerva moved to
Speaker 1: pity at the sight sustained and saved her from the
Speaker 1: bitter death, but Angry still pronounced another doom. Although I
Speaker 1: grant you life, most wicked one, your fate shall be
Speaker 1: to dangle on a cord, and your posterity forever shall
Speaker 1: take your example that your punishment may last forever. Even
Speaker 1: as she spoke before withdrawing from her victim's sight, she
Speaker 1: sprinkled her with juice extract of herbs of Eketae, and
Speaker 1: once all hair fell out, her nose and ears remained not,
Speaker 1: and her head shrunk rapidly in size as well as
Speaker 1: her body, leaving her diminutive. Her slender fingers gathered to
Speaker 1: her sides as long thin legs, and all her other
Speaker 1: parts were fast absorbed in her abdomen. Whence she vented
Speaker 1: a fine thread, and ever since a Rakney, as a spider,
Speaker 1: weaves her web. All Lydia was astonished at her fate.
Speaker 1: The rumor spread to Phrygia. Soon the world was filled
Speaker 1: with fear and wonder. Niobe had known her long before,
Speaker 1: when in Myonia, near to Mount Sypolis, but the sad
Speaker 1: fate which overtook Aracney lost on her. She never ceased
Speaker 1: her boasting and refused to honor the great gods. So
Speaker 1: many things increased her pride. She loved to boast her
Speaker 1: husband's skill, their noble family, the rising grandeur of their kingdom.
Speaker 1: Such felicities were great delights to her, but nothing could
Speaker 1: exceed the haughty way she boasted of her children. And
Speaker 1: in truth, Niobe might have been adjudged on earth the
Speaker 1: happiest mother of mankind, if pride had not destroyed her
Speaker 1: wais it happened then that Mancho, the daughter of Tyresius,
Speaker 1: who told the future, When she felt the fire of
Speaker 1: prophecy descend upon her, rushed upon the street and shouted
Speaker 1: in the midst, you women of his menace, go and
Speaker 1: give to high Latona and her children to incense and prayer.
Speaker 1: Go and with Laurel wreathe your hair and garlands as
Speaker 1: your sacred prayer. Arise to Heaven give heed for my speech.
Speaker 1: Latona has ordained these holy rites at once. The theban
Speaker 1: women wreathed to their brows with laurel, and they cast
Speaker 1: and hallowed flame the grateful incense, while they supplicate all
Speaker 1: favors of the ever living gods, And while they worship.
Speaker 1: Niobe comes there, surrounded with the troop that follow her,
Speaker 1: and most conspicuous in her purple robe, bright with inwoven
Speaker 1: threads of yellow gold, beautiful in her anger, she tosses
Speaker 1: back her graceful head. The glory of her hair shines
Speaker 1: on her shoulders. Standing forth, she looks upon them with
Speaker 1: her haughty eyes and taunts them. Madness has prevailed upon
Speaker 1: you to worship some imagined gods of heaven, which you
Speaker 1: have only heard of. But the gods that truly are
Speaker 1: on earth and can be seen, are all neglected. Come
Speaker 1: explain to me why is Latona worshiped and adored, and
Speaker 1: frankincense not offered unto me? For my divinity is known
Speaker 1: to you. Tantalus was my father, who alone approached the
Speaker 1: tables of the gods in heaven. My mother, sister of
Speaker 1: the Pleiades, was daughter of huge Atlas, who supports the
Speaker 1: world on his shoulders. I can boast of Jupiter as
Speaker 1: father of my sire. I count him also as my
Speaker 1: father in law. The peoples of my Phrygia dread my power.
Speaker 1: And I am mistress of the palace built by Cadmus,
Speaker 1: by my husband. I am queen of those great walls
Speaker 1: that reared themselves to the sweet music of his sounding lyre.
Speaker 1: We rule together all the people they encompass and defend,
Speaker 1: And everywhere my gaze is turned, an evidence of wealth
Speaker 1: is witnessed in my features. You can see the beauty
Speaker 1: of a goddess. But above that, majesty is all the
Speaker 1: glory do to me, the mother of my seven sons
Speaker 1: and daughters seven. And the time will come when, by
Speaker 1: their marriage, they will magnify the circle of my power invincible.
Speaker 1: All must acknowledge my just cause of pride, and must
Speaker 1: no longer worship in spite of my superior birth. This deity,
Speaker 1: a daughter of ignoble Chaius, who one time the great
Speaker 1: Earth would not even grant sufficient space for labor, whom
Speaker 1: the heavens, the land the sea together, Once compelled to
Speaker 1: wander hopeless on all hostile shores throughout the world, she
Speaker 1: found herself rebuffed till Dilo, sorry for the vagrant, said homeless,
Speaker 1: you roam the lands, and I the seas, And even
Speaker 1: her refuge always was adrift. And there she bore two children,
Speaker 1: who compared with mine, are but as one to seven.
Speaker 1: Who denies my fortunate condition, who can doubt my future?
Speaker 1: I am surely safe. The wealth of my abundance is
Speaker 1: too strong for fortune to assail me. Let her rage
Speaker 1: despoil me of large substance, yet so many would still
Speaker 1: be mine, for I have risen above the blight of apprehension.
Speaker 1: But suppose a few of my fair children should be taken,
Speaker 1: even so deprived, I could not be reduced to only
Speaker 1: two as this Latona, who might quite as well be childless.
Speaker 1: Get you gone from this insensate sacrifice, Make haste, cast
Speaker 1: off the wreathing laurels from your brows. They plucked the
Speaker 1: garlands from their hair, and left the sacrifice, obedient to
Speaker 1: her will. Although in gentle murmurs they adored the goddess
Speaker 1: Niobe had so defamed. Latona, furious when she heard the speech,
Speaker 1: flew swiftly to the utmost peak of Kymphus, and spoke
Speaker 1: to her two children in these words, behold your mother,
Speaker 1: proud of having born such glorious children, I will yield
Speaker 1: prestige before no goddess save alone immortal Juno. I have
Speaker 1: been debased and driven for all ages from my own
Speaker 1: my altars unto me devoted long, and so must languish
Speaker 1: through eternity unless by your sustained. Nor is this all
Speaker 1: the daughter of Tantalus bold Niobe has added curses to
Speaker 1: her evil deeds, and, with a tongue as wicked as
Speaker 1: her sires, has raised her base born children over mine,
Speaker 1: has even called me childless, a sad fate more surely
Speaker 1: should be hers. Oh I entreat, But Phoebus answered her,
Speaker 1: No more complaints is necessary, for it only serves to
Speaker 1: hinder the swift sequel of her doom. And with the
Speaker 1: same words Phoebe answered her. And having spoken, they descended
Speaker 1: through the shielding shadows of surrounding clouds and hovered on
Speaker 1: the citadel of Cadmus. There, far below them was a
Speaker 1: level plane which swept around the walls, where trampling steeds
Speaker 1: with horny hoofs and multitudinous wheels had beaten a wide track,
Speaker 1: and on the field the older sons of Niob beyond
Speaker 1: steeds emblazoned with bright dyes and harness rich with studded
Speaker 1: gold were circling. One of these is Menace, first born
Speaker 1: of his mother. While controlling his fleet, Courser's foaming mouth
Speaker 1: cried out, Ah, wretched me. A shaft had pierced the
Speaker 1: middle of his breast, and as the reins dropped slowly
Speaker 1: on the rapid Courser's neck, his drooping form fell forward
Speaker 1: to the ground. Not far from him, his brother Sypolis
Speaker 1: could hear the whistling of a fatal shaft, and in
Speaker 1: his fright, urged on the plunging steed, as when the
Speaker 1: watchful pilot, sensible of storms approaching, crowds on sail, hoping
Speaker 1: to catch a momentary breeze, so fled, he urging on
Speaker 1: impetuous flight. But while he fled, the shaft unerring flew
Speaker 1: transfixed him with its quivering death struck where the neck
Speaker 1: supports the head, and a sharp point protruding from his throat.
Speaker 1: In his swift flight, as he was leaning forward, he
Speaker 1: was struck and rolling over the wild horse's neck, pitched
Speaker 1: to the ground and stained it with his blood. Unhappy
Speaker 1: Fetamus and Tantalus, so named from his maternal grandsire, now
Speaker 1: had finished coursing on the track and smooth shining with
Speaker 1: oil were wrestling in the field, and while those brothers
Speaker 1: struggled breast to breast, another arrow, hurtling from the sky,
Speaker 1: pierced them together just as they were clinched. The mingled
Speaker 1: sound that issued from two throats was like a single groan.
Speaker 1: Convulsed with pain. The wrestlers fell together on the ground, where,
Speaker 1: stricken with a double agony, rolling their eyeballs, they sobbed
Speaker 1: out their lives. Alpinor saw them die, beating his breast
Speaker 1: in agony, ran to lift in his arms their lifeless
Speaker 1: bodies cold. While doing this he fell upon them. Phoebus
Speaker 1: struck him, so piercing his midriff in a vital part
Speaker 1: with fatal shot, which, when he pulled it forth, dragged
Speaker 1: with its barb a torn clot of his lung. His
Speaker 1: blood and life poured out upon the air the youthful
Speaker 1: Damasathon next was struck not only once. An arrow pierced
Speaker 1: his leg just where the sinews of his thigh began,
Speaker 1: and as he turned and stooped to pluck it out,
Speaker 1: another keen shaft shot into his neck up to the fletching.
Speaker 1: The blood drove it out and spouted after it in
Speaker 1: crimson jets then Ilionius, last of seven Sons, lifted his
Speaker 1: unavailing arms in prayer and cried, Oh, universal deities, God's
Speaker 1: of eternal heaven, spare my life. Besought too late, Apollo
Speaker 1: of the bow could not prevail against the deadly shaft
Speaker 1: already on its way, and yet his will compellant acted
Speaker 1: to retard its flight, so that it cut no deeper
Speaker 1: than his heart. The rumors of an awful tragedy, the
Speaker 1: wailings of sad Niobi's loved friends, the terror of her
Speaker 1: grieving relatives, all gave some knowledge of her sudden loss,
Speaker 1: but so bewildered and enraged her mind that she could
Speaker 1: hardly realize the gods had privilege to dare against her might,
Speaker 1: Nor would she till her Lord Amphion thrust his sword
Speaker 1: deep in his breast, by which his life and anguish
Speaker 1: both were ended in dark night. Alas proud Niobi, once
Speaker 1: haughty Queen proud Niobi, who but so lately drove her
Speaker 1: people from Latona's altars. While moving majestic through the midst
Speaker 1: she hears their plottits, Now so bitterly debased, her meanest enemy,
Speaker 1: may pity her. She fell upon the bodies of her sons, and,
Speaker 1: in a frenzy of maternal grief, kissed their unfeeling lips.
Speaker 1: Then unto heaven with arms accusing, railed upon her foe,
Speaker 1: glut your revenge, Latona, glut your rage. Yes, let my
Speaker 1: lamentations be your joy. Go saytiate your flinty heart with death?
Speaker 1: Are not my seven sons all dead? Am I not
Speaker 1: waiting to be carried to my grave? Exult and triumph
Speaker 1: my victorious foe, victorious? Nay, much more remains to me
Speaker 1: in all my utmost sorrow than to you, you, gloater
Speaker 1: upon vengeance undismayed, I stand victorious in my field of woe.
Speaker 1: No sooner had she spoken than the cord twanged from
Speaker 1: the ever ready bow, and all who heard the fatal
Speaker 1: sound again were filled with fear. Save Niobe in misery, bold,
Speaker 1: defiant in misfortune. Clothed in black, the sisters of the
Speaker 1: stricken brothers stood with hair disheveled by the funeral buyers,
Speaker 1: and one, while plucking from her brother's heart, a shaft,
Speaker 1: swooned unto death, fell on her face on her dear
Speaker 1: brother's corpse. Another girl, while she consoled her mother, suddenly
Speaker 1: was stricken with an unseen, deadly wound and doubled in convulsions,
Speaker 1: closed her lips tight held them till both breath and
Speaker 1: life were lost. Another vainly rushed away from death, She
Speaker 1: met it and pitched headfirst into the ground. And still
Speaker 1: another died upon her corpse. Another vainly sought a secret death,
Speaker 1: and then another slipped beyond life's edge. So altogether six
Speaker 1: of seven died, each victim strickened in a different way.
Speaker 1: One child remained. Then, in a frenzy fear, the mother,
Speaker 1: as she cowered with all her garments and her body, wailed, oh,
Speaker 1: leave me, this one child, this youngest of them all,
Speaker 1: my darling daughter. Only leave me one. But even while
Speaker 1: she was entreating for its life, the life was taken
Speaker 1: from her only child. Childless, she crouched beside her slaughtered sons,
Speaker 1: her lifeless daughters, and her husband's corpse. The breeze not
Speaker 1: even moved her fallen hair, A chill of marble spread
Speaker 1: upon her flesh beneath her pale set brows. Her eyes
Speaker 1: moved not, her bitter tongue turned stiff, and her hard jaws,
Speaker 1: her lovely veins congealed, and her stiff neck and rigid
Speaker 1: hands could neither bend nor move. Her limbs and body
Speaker 1: all were changed to stone. Yet ever would she weep,
Speaker 1: And as her tears were falling, she was carried from
Speaker 1: the place, enveloped in a storm and mighty wind, far
Speaker 1: to her native land, where fixed upon a mountain summit,
Speaker 1: she dissolves in tears, and to this day the marble
Speaker 1: drips with tears. All men and women after this event
Speaker 1: feared to incur Latona's fateful wrath and worshiped with more
Speaker 1: zeal the deity mother of twins. And as is the
Speaker 1: way of men to talk of many other things, after
Speaker 1: a strong occurrence, they recalled what other deeds the goddess
Speaker 1: had performed, and one of them recited this event twas
Speaker 1: in the ancient days of long ago. Some rustics in
Speaker 1: the fertile fields of Lycia, heedless insulted the goddess to
Speaker 1: their harm. Perhaps you've never heard of this event, because
Speaker 1: those country clowns were little known. The event was wonderful,
Speaker 1: but I can vouch the truth of it. I visited
Speaker 1: the place, and I have seen the pool of water
Speaker 1: where happened to the miracle I now relate. My good
Speaker 1: old father, then advanced in years incapable of travel, ordered
Speaker 1: me to fetch some cattle thoroughbreds from there, and had
Speaker 1: secured a lycean for my guide. As I traversed the
Speaker 1: pastures with the man, it chanced I saw an ancient
Speaker 1: altar grimed with sacrificial ashes, in the midst of a
Speaker 1: large pool, with sedge and breeds around a quiver in
Speaker 1: the breeze. And there my guide stood on the marge,
Speaker 1: and in an awe struck voice, began to whisper, be
Speaker 1: propitious here my supplications, and forget me not. And I
Speaker 1: observed him echoed the words forget me not, which, having done,
Speaker 1: I turned to him and said, whose altar? Can this be?
Speaker 1: Perhaps a sacred altar of the fawns, or the Naiads,
Speaker 1: or a native god, to which my guide replied, young man,
Speaker 1: such gods may not be worshiped at this altar. She whom,
Speaker 1: once the royal Juno drove away to wander a harsh world,
Speaker 1: alone permits this altar to be used. That goddess whom
Speaker 1: the wandering isle of Delos at the time drifted as
Speaker 1: the foam almost refused a refuge there Latona, as she
Speaker 1: leaned against a palm tree and against the tree most
Speaker 1: sacred to Minerva, brought forth twins, although their harsh stepmother, Juno,
Speaker 1: strove to interfere. And from the island, forced to fly
Speaker 1: by jealous Juno on her breast, she bore her children
Speaker 1: twin divinities. At last outwearied with the toil and parched
Speaker 1: with thirst, long wandering in those heated days, over the
Speaker 1: arid land of Lycia, where was bread the dire chimera.
Speaker 1: At the time her parching breasts were drained, she saw
Speaker 1: the pool of crystal water shimmering in the vale. Some
Speaker 1: countrymen were there to gather reeds and useful osiers, and
Speaker 1: the bulrush found with sedge and fenny pools to them.
Speaker 1: Approached Latona, and she knelt upon the merge to cool
Speaker 1: her thirst with some refreshing water. But those clowns forbade her,
Speaker 1: and the goddess cried as they so wickedly opposed her need.
Speaker 1: Why do you resist my bitter thirst? The use of
Speaker 1: water is of a sacred right for all mankind. For
Speaker 1: Nature has not made the sun and air and water
Speaker 1: for the sole estate of any creature, and to her
Speaker 1: kind bounty I appeal all though of you, I humbly
Speaker 1: beg the use of it. Not here do I intend
Speaker 1: to bathe my wearied limbs. I only wish to quench
Speaker 1: an urgent thirst. For even as I speak, my cracking
Speaker 1: lips and mouths so parched almost deny me words. A
Speaker 1: drink of water will be a draft of nectar, giving life.
Speaker 1: And I shall owe you the bounty in my life renewed. Ah,
Speaker 1: let these tender infants, whose weak arms implore you to
Speaker 1: from my bosom, but incline your hearts to pity. And
Speaker 1: just as she spoke, it chanced the children did stretch
Speaker 1: out their arms, and who would not be touched to
Speaker 1: hear such words as spoken by this goddess and refuse.
Speaker 1: But still these clowns persisted in their wrong against the Goddess,
Speaker 1: for they hindered her and threatened with their foul, abusive
Speaker 1: tongues to frighten her away. And worse than all, they
Speaker 1: even muddled with their hands and feet the clear pool,
Speaker 1: forcing the vile, slimy dredges from the bottom in a
Speaker 1: spiteful way by jumping up and down. And raged by this,
Speaker 1: she felt no further thirst, nor would she deign to
Speaker 1: supplicate again. But feeling all the outraged madame of her
Speaker 1: high state, she raised her hands to heaven and exclaimed,
Speaker 1: forever may you live in that mud pool. The curse,
Speaker 1: as soon as uttered took effect, and every one of
Speaker 1: them began to swim beneath the water, and to leap
Speaker 1: and plunge in the pool. Now as they raise their heads,
Speaker 1: now swim upon the surface. Now they squat themselves around
Speaker 1: the marshy margent. Now they plump again down to the
Speaker 1: chilly depths, and ever and again, with croaking throats, indulge
Speaker 1: offensive strife upon the banks or even under water boom abuse,
Speaker 1: Their ugly voices, cause their bloated necks to puff out,
Speaker 1: and their widened jaws are made still wider in the
Speaker 1: venting of their spleen. Their backs, so closely fastened to
Speaker 1: their heads, make them appear as if their shrunken necks
Speaker 1: have been cut off. Their backbones are dark green white
Speaker 1: at their bellies now their largest part. Forever since that time,
Speaker 1: the foolish frogs muddy their own pools where they leap
Speaker 1: and dive. So he related how the clowns were changed
Speaker 1: to leaping frogs, and after he was through, another told
Speaker 1: the tale of Marcius in these words, the sayer Marcius,
Speaker 1: when he played the flute and rivalry against Apollo's liar,
Speaker 1: lost that audacious contest, and alas his life was forfeit,
Speaker 1: for they had agreed the one who lost should be
Speaker 1: the victor's prey. And as Apollo punished him, he cried,
Speaker 1: why are you now tearing me apart? A flute has
Speaker 1: not the value of my life. Even as he shrieked
Speaker 1: at an agony, his living skin was ripped off from
Speaker 1: his limbs, till his whole body was a flaming wound,
Speaker 1: with nerves and veins and viscera exposed. But all the
Speaker 1: weeping people of that land, and all the fawns and
Speaker 1: sylvan deities, and all the satyrs and olympus, his loved pupil,
Speaker 1: even then renowned in song, and all the nymphs lamented
Speaker 1: his sad fate, And all the shepherds roaming on the
Speaker 1: hills lamented as they tended fleecy flocks, And all those
Speaker 1: falling tears on fruitful earth descended to her deepest veins,
Speaker 1: as the drip of moistening dews and gathering as a
Speaker 1: fount turned upward from her secret winding caves to issue
Speaker 1: sparkling in the sun kissed air, the clearest river in
Speaker 1: the land of Phrygia, through which it swiftly flows between
Speaker 1: steep banks down to the sea. And therefore from his
Speaker 1: name tis called the Marcius to this very day. And
Speaker 1: after this was told, the people turned and wept for
Speaker 1: Naobie's loved children, and also mourned amphion sorrow slain. The
Speaker 1: theban people hated Niobe, but Pelops, her own brother, mourned
Speaker 1: her death. And as he rent his garment and laid
Speaker 1: bare his white left shoulder, you could see the part
Speaker 1: composed of ivory. At his birth, twas all healthy flesh.
Speaker 1: But when his father cut his limbs asunder, and the
Speaker 1: gods restored his life, all parts were rightly joined, except
Speaker 1: part of one's shoulder, which was wanting so to serve
Speaker 1: the purpose of the missing flesh, a piece of ivory
Speaker 1: was inserted there, making his body by such means complete.
Speaker 1: The lords of many cities that were near now met
Speaker 1: together and implored their kings to mourn with Pelops those
Speaker 1: unhappy deeds. The lords of Argos, Sparta, and Myceni and Caldon.
Speaker 1: Before it had incurred the hatred of Diana, goddess of
Speaker 1: the Chase, fertile Orchimenos, and Corinth, great in wealth of brass,
Speaker 1: petrie and fierce Messina, a cleony, small and pealless, and
Speaker 1: treason not ruled by Pittheus. Then, and also all the
Speaker 1: other cities which are shut off by the Isthmus they
Speaker 1: are dividing by its two seas, and all the cities
Speaker 1: which are seen from there, what seemed most wonderful of
Speaker 1: all those towns Athens alone was wanting for a war
Speaker 1: had gathered from the distant seas. A host of savage
Speaker 1: warriors had alarmed her walls and hindered her from mourning
Speaker 1: for the dead. Now Terrius, then, the mighty king of Thrace,
Speaker 1: came to the aid of Athens as defense from that
Speaker 1: fierce horde, and there by his great deeds achieved a
Speaker 1: glorious fame, since his descent was boasted from the mighty Gradivus,
Speaker 1: and he was gifted with enormous wealth. Pandion, king of Athens,
Speaker 1: gave to him in sacred wedlock his dear daughter Prockney.
Speaker 1: But Juno, guardian of the sacred Rites, attended not nor
Speaker 1: Hymenaeus nor the graces, but the furies snatched up brands
Speaker 1: from burning funeral pyres and brandished them as torches. They
Speaker 1: prepared the nuptial couch. Aboding owl flew over the bride's room,
Speaker 1: and then sat silently upon the roof. With such bad omens.
Speaker 1: Tereus married her sad Procne, and those omens cast a
Speaker 1: gloom on all the household till the fateful birth of
Speaker 1: their first son. All thrace went wild with joy, and
Speaker 1: even they, rejoicing, blessed the gods when he, the little Ittis,
Speaker 1: saw the light. And they ordained each year their wedding day,
Speaker 1: and every year the birth of their child, should be
Speaker 1: observed with festival and song. So the sad veil of
Speaker 1: fate conceals from us our future woes. Now Titan has
Speaker 1: drawn forth the changing seasons through five autumns. When in
Speaker 1: gentle accents, Procne spoke these words, my dearest husband, if
Speaker 1: you love me, let me visit my dear sister, or
Speaker 1: consent that she may come to us, and promise her
Speaker 1: that she may soon return. If you will, but permit
Speaker 1: me to enjoy her company, my heart will bless you
Speaker 1: as I bless the gods. At once, the monarch ordered
Speaker 1: his long ships to launch upon the seas, and, driven
Speaker 1: by sail and hastened by the swiftly sweeping oars, they
Speaker 1: entered the deep port of Athens, where he made fair
Speaker 1: landing on the fortified Piraeus. There, when time was opportune
Speaker 1: to greet his father in law and shake his hand,
Speaker 1: they both exchanged their wishes for good health, and Tereus
Speaker 1: told the reason why he came. He was relating all
Speaker 1: his wife's desires, promising Philamella's safe return from a brief visit.
Speaker 1: When Philamella appeared, rich in her costly raiment, yet more
Speaker 1: rich in charm and beauty, just as if a fair
Speaker 1: dread or naiad should be so attired, appearing radiant from
Speaker 1: dark solitudes, as if some one should kindle whitening corn,
Speaker 1: or the dry leaves, or hay piled in a stack,
Speaker 1: so terious. When he saw the beautiful and blushing virgin,
Speaker 1: was consumed with love. Her modest beauty was a worthy
Speaker 1: cause of worthy love. But by his heritage derived from
Speaker 1: a debasing clime, his love was base and fires unwholly
Speaker 1: burned within from his own lawless nature, just as fierce
Speaker 1: as are the habits of his evil race. In the
Speaker 1: wild frenzy of his wicked heart, he thought he would
Speaker 1: corrupt her trusted maid, her tried attendants, and corrupt even
Speaker 1: her virtue with large presence. He would waste his kingdom
Speaker 1: in the effort. He prepared to seize her at the
Speaker 1: risk of cruel war, and he would do or dare
Speaker 1: all things to feed his raging flame. He could not
Speaker 1: brook delay. With most impassioned words, he bare for her,
Speaker 1: pretending he gave voice to Prockney's hopes. His own desire
Speaker 1: made him wax eloquent. As often as his words exceeded bounds,
Speaker 1: he pleaded he was uttering Procney's words. His hypocritic eyes
Speaker 1: were filled with tears, as though they represented her desire.
Speaker 1: And O, you, Gods, above, what devious ways are harbored
Speaker 1: in the hearts of mortals. Through his villainous desire he
Speaker 1: gathered praise, and many lauded him for the great love
Speaker 1: he bore his wife. And even Philamella desires her own
Speaker 1: undoing and with fond embraces, nestles to her father while
Speaker 1: she pleads for his consent that she may go to
Speaker 1: visit her dear sister. Tereus viewed her pretty pleading, and
Speaker 1: in his hot heart imagined he was then embracing her.
Speaker 1: And as he saw her kiss her father's lips, her
Speaker 1: arms around his neck, it seemed that each caress was his,
Speaker 1: and so his fire increased. He even wished he were
Speaker 1: her father, though if it were so, his passion would
Speaker 1: be no less impious. Overcome at last by these entreaties,
Speaker 1: her kind father gave consent greatly. She joyed and thanked
Speaker 1: him for her own misfortune. She imagined a success instead
Speaker 1: of all the sorrow that would come the day declining,
Speaker 1: little of his toil remained for Phoebus. Now his flaming
Speaker 1: steeds were beating with their hoofs, and the downward slope
Speaker 1: of high Olympus, and the regal feast was set before
Speaker 1: the guests, and flashing wine was poured in golden vessels,
Speaker 1: and the feast went merrily until the satisfied assembly sought
Speaker 1: in gentle sleep their rest. Not so the love hot Tereus,
Speaker 1: king of Thrace, who sleepless, imaged in his doting mind
Speaker 1: the form of Philamella, recoed all the shape of her
Speaker 1: fair hands, and in his memory reviewed her movements, and
Speaker 1: his flaming heart pictured her beauties yet unseen. He fed
Speaker 1: his frenzy on himself and could not sleep. Fair broke
Speaker 1: the day. And now the ancient king Pandeon took his
Speaker 1: son in law's right hand to bid farewell, and as
Speaker 1: he wept, commended his dear daughter Philamella, unto his guarding care.
Speaker 1: And in your care, my son in law, I trust
Speaker 1: my daughter's health. Good reason, grounded on my love, compels
Speaker 1: my sad approval. You have begged for her, and both
Speaker 1: my daughters have persuaded me. Wherefore I do entreat you
Speaker 1: and implore your honor, as I call upon the gods,
Speaker 1: that you will ever shield her with the love of
Speaker 1: a kind father, and return her safe as soon as
Speaker 1: may be my last comfort given to bless my doting age.
Speaker 1: And all delay will agitate and vex my failing heart.
Speaker 1: And oh, my dearest daughter, Philamella, if you have any
Speaker 1: love for me, return without too long delay and comfort me.
Speaker 1: Let I may grieve, for it is quite enough that
Speaker 1: I should suffer while your sister stays away. The old
Speaker 1: king made them promise, and he kissed his daughter while
Speaker 1: he wept. Then he did join their hands in pledge
Speaker 1: of their fidelity, and as he gave his blessing, cautioned
Speaker 1: them to kiss his absent daughter and her son for
Speaker 1: his dear sake. Then, as he spoke a last farewell,
Speaker 1: his trembling voice was filled with sobs, and he could
Speaker 1: hardly speak, for a great fear from some vague intuition
Speaker 1: of his mind surged over him, and he was left forlorn.
Speaker 1: So soon as Philamella was safe aboard the painted ship,
Speaker 1: and as the sailors urged the swiftly gliding keel across
Speaker 1: the deep and dim land fast faded from their view,
Speaker 1: then Terrius, in exultant humor, thought, now all is well.
Speaker 1: The object of my love sails with me. While the
Speaker 1: sailors ply the oars, he could scarcely control his barbarous desire.
Speaker 1: Difficulty stayed his lust. He followed all her actions with
Speaker 1: hot eyes. So when the ravenous bird of Jupiter had
Speaker 1: caught with crooked talons the poor hair and dropped it
Speaker 1: ruthless in his lofty nest where there is no escape,
Speaker 1: his cruel eyes gloat on the victim he anticipates. And now,
Speaker 1: as Terrius reached his journey's end, they landed from the
Speaker 1: travel wearied ship, safe on the shores of his own kingdom.
Speaker 1: Then he hastened with the frightened Filamella into the most
Speaker 1: wild and silent solitudes of an old forest, where concealed
Speaker 1: among deep thickets of forbidding old house stood There he
Speaker 1: immured the pale and trembling maid, who, vainly, in her fright,
Speaker 1: began to call upon her absent sister, and her tears
Speaker 1: implored his pity. His obdurate mind could not be softened
Speaker 1: by such piteous cries. But even while her agonizing screams
Speaker 1: implored her sisters and her father's aid, and while she
Speaker 1: vainly called upon the gods, he overmastered her with brutal force.
Speaker 1: The poor child trembled as a frightened lamb, which, just
Speaker 1: delivered from the frothing jaws of a gaunt wolf, dreads
Speaker 1: every moving twig. She trembled as a timid, injured dove,
Speaker 1: her feathers dripping with her own life blood, that dreads
Speaker 1: the ravening talons of a hawk from which some fortune
Speaker 1: has delivered her. But presently, as consciousness returned, she tore
Speaker 1: her streaming hair and beat her arms, and stretching forth
Speaker 1: her hands in frenzied grief cried out, Oh, barbarous and
Speaker 1: brutal wretch, unnatural monster of abhorrent deeds, could not my
Speaker 1: anxious father's parting words nor his foreboding tears restrain your lust?
Speaker 1: Have you no slight regard for your chaste wife, my
Speaker 1: dearest sister? And are you without all honor so to
Speaker 1: spoil virginity? Now making me invade my sister's claim, You
Speaker 1: have befouled the sacred fount of life. You are a
Speaker 1: lawless bond of double sin. Oh, this dark punishment was
Speaker 1: not my due. Come finish with my murder, your black deed,
Speaker 1: so nothing wicked may remain undone. But Oh, if you
Speaker 1: had only slaughtered me before your criminal embrace befouled my purity,
Speaker 1: I should have had a shade entirely pure and free
Speaker 1: from any stain. Oh, if there is majesty in heaven,
Speaker 1: and if my ruin has not been wrecked the world,
Speaker 1: then you shall suffer for this grievous wrong, and time
Speaker 1: shall hasten to avenge my wreck. I shall declare your
Speaker 1: sin before the world and publish my own shame to
Speaker 1: punish you. And if I'm prisoned in this solitudes, my
Speaker 1: voice will wake the echoes in the wood and move
Speaker 1: the conscious rocks. Hear me, oh, heaven, and let my
Speaker 1: imprecations rouse the gods, ah, if there can be a
Speaker 1: god in heaven. Her cries aroused the dastard tyrant's wrath
Speaker 1: and frightened him, lest ever his foul deed might shock
Speaker 1: his kingdom, and roused it once by ray and guilty fear.
Speaker 1: He seized her hair, forced her weak arms behind her back,
Speaker 1: and bound them fast with brazen chains, then drew his sword.
Speaker 1: When she first saw his sword above his head, flashing
Speaker 1: and sharp, she wished only for death, and offered her
Speaker 1: bare throat. But while she screamed and struggling called upon
Speaker 1: her father's name, he caught her tongue with pincers, pitiless,
Speaker 1: and caught it with his sword. The mangled roots still quivered,
Speaker 1: but the bleeding tongue itself fell murmuring on the blood
Speaker 1: stained floor. And as the tail of a slain snake
Speaker 1: still writhes upon the ground, so did the throbbing tongue.
Speaker 1: And while it died, moved up to her as if
Speaker 1: to seek her feet. And it is said that after
Speaker 1: this foul crime, the monster violated her again and After
Speaker 1: these vile deeds, that wicked king returned to Prockney, who,
Speaker 1: when she first met her brutal husband, anxiously inquired for
Speaker 1: tidings of her sister. But with sighs and tears, he
Speaker 1: told a false tale of her death, and with such
Speaker 1: woe that all believed it true. Then Procne, full of lamentation,
Speaker 1: took her royal robe bordered with purest gold, and putting
Speaker 1: it away, assumed instead garments of sable mourning. And she
Speaker 1: built a noble sepulcher and offered there her pious gifts
Speaker 1: to an imagined shade, lamenting the sad death of her
Speaker 1: who lived. A year had passed by since that awful date,
Speaker 1: the sun had coursed the zodiac's twelve signs. But what
Speaker 1: could Philamela hope or do? For Like a jail, the
Speaker 1: strong walls of the house were built of massive stone,
Speaker 1: and guards around prevented flight and mutilated, she could not
Speaker 1: communicate with anyone to tell her injuries and tragic woe.
Speaker 1: But even in despair and utmost grief, there is an
Speaker 1: ingenuity which gives inventive genius to protect from her. And
Speaker 1: now the grief distracted Philamella wove in a warp with
Speaker 1: purple marks and white a story of the crime, And
Speaker 1: when it was done, she gave it to her one
Speaker 1: attendant there and begged her by appropriate signs to take
Speaker 1: it secretly to Procney. She took the web. She carried
Speaker 1: it to Procny, with no thought of words or messages
Speaker 1: by art conveyed the wife of that inhuman tyrant took
Speaker 1: the cloth, and after she unwrapped it, saw and understood
Speaker 1: the mournful record scent. She pondered it in silence, and
Speaker 1: her tongue could find no words to utter her despair.
Speaker 1: Her grief and frenzy were too great for tears. In
Speaker 1: a mad rage, her rapid mind confounded the right and
Speaker 1: wrong intent upon revenge. Since it was now the time
Speaker 1: of festival, when all the Thracian matrons celebrate the rites
Speaker 1: of Bacchus every third year. Thus knight then was in
Speaker 1: their secret and at night the slopes of Rhodope resounded
Speaker 1: loud with clashing of shrill symbols. So at night the
Speaker 1: frantic Queen of Terrius left her home and clothed according
Speaker 1: to the well known rights of Bacchus, hurried to the wilderness.
Speaker 1: Her head was covered with the green vine leaves, and
Speaker 1: from her left side native deerskin hung, and on her
Speaker 1: shoulder rested a light spear so fashioned. The revengeful Procney
Speaker 1: rushed through the dark woods, attended by a host of
Speaker 1: screaming followers, and wild with rage, pretended it was Bacchus,
Speaker 1: urged her forth. At last she reached the lonely building
Speaker 1: where her sister Philamella was immurred, and as she howled
Speaker 1: and shouted E O E, she forced the massive doors, and,
Speaker 1: having seized her sister, instantly concealed her face and ivy leaves,
Speaker 1: arrayed her in the trappings of bacchanale rights. When this
Speaker 1: was done, they rushed it from there, demented, to the
Speaker 1: house where as the Queen of Terrius Procne dwelt when Philamella,
Speaker 1: she had arrived at that a cursed house. Her countenance,
Speaker 1: though pale with grief, took on a ghastlier hue, and
Speaker 1: wretched in her misery and fright, she shuddered in convulsions.
Speaker 1: Prockney took the symbols Bachanalian from her then, and as
Speaker 1: she held her in a strict embrace, unveiled her downcast head.
Speaker 1: But she refused to lift her eyes, and fixing her
Speaker 1: sad gaze on vacant spaces, she raised her head instead,
Speaker 1: as if an oath, She called upon the gods to witness.
Speaker 1: Truly she had done no wrong, but suffered a disgrace
Speaker 1: of violence. Oh, Prockney, with a wild and consuming rage,
Speaker 1: cut short her sister's terror In these words, there is
Speaker 1: no time for weeping. Awful deeds, demand a great revenge.
Speaker 1: Take up the sword in any weapon fiercer than its edge.
Speaker 1: My breast is hardened to the worst of crime. Make
Speaker 1: haste with me together, let us put this palace to
Speaker 1: the torch. Come, let us maim the beastly Terrius with
Speaker 1: revenging iron, cut out his tongue and quench his cruel eyes,
Speaker 1: and hurl and burn him writhing in the flames. Or
Speaker 1: shall we pierce him with a grisly blaze and let
Speaker 1: his black soul issue from deep wounds. A thousand slaughter
Speaker 1: him with every death imagined in the misery of hate.
Speaker 1: While Prockney still was raving out such words, Itis, her
Speaker 1: son was hastening to his mother, And when she saw him,
Speaker 1: her revengeful eyes conceiving a dark punishment, she said, Aha,
Speaker 1: here comes the image of his father. She gave no
Speaker 1: other warning, but prepared to execute a horrible revenge. But
Speaker 1: when the tender child came up to her and called
Speaker 1: her mother, put his arms around her neck. And when
Speaker 1: he smiled and kissed her off and gracious in his
Speaker 1: cunning ways, again the instinct of true motherhood pulsed in
Speaker 1: her veins and moved to pity. She began to weep
Speaker 1: in spite of her resolve. Feeling the tender impulse of
Speaker 1: her love unnerving her, she turned her eyes from him
Speaker 1: and looked upon her sister, and from her glanced at
Speaker 1: her darling boy again. And so while she was looking
Speaker 1: at them both by turns, she said, why does the
Speaker 1: little one veil with pretty words? While Philamella stands in silence,
Speaker 1: always with her tongue torn out. She cannot call her
Speaker 1: sister whom she calls his mother, Oh, you, daughter of Pandeon,
Speaker 1: Consider what a wretch your husband is. The wife of
Speaker 1: such a monster must be flint compassion in her heart
Speaker 1: is but a crime no more, She hesitated, But as
Speaker 1: swift as the fierce tigress of the gangess leaps, seizes
Speaker 1: the suckling offspring of the hind and drags it through
Speaker 1: the forest to its lair. So Procne seized and dragged
Speaker 1: the frightened boy to a most lonely section of the house,
Speaker 1: and there she put him to the cruel sword, while he,
Speaker 1: aware of his sad fate, stretched forth his little hands
Speaker 1: and cried, Ah, Mother, Ah, and clung to her, clung
Speaker 1: to her while she struck her fixed eyes, maddened, glaring, horribly,
Speaker 1: struck wildly, lopping off his tender limbs, but Philamella cut
Speaker 1: through his tender throat. Then they together mangled his remains,
Speaker 1: still quivering with the remnant of his life, and boiled
Speaker 1: a part of him in steaming pots that bubbled over
Speaker 1: with the dead child's blood, and roasted other parts on
Speaker 1: hissing spits. And after all was ready, Procne bade her
Speaker 1: husband Terrius, to the loathsome feast, and with a false
Speaker 1: pretense of sacred rites, according to the custom of her land,
Speaker 1: by which but one man must may partake of it,
Speaker 1: she sent the servants from the banquet hall. Terrius, majestic,
Speaker 1: on his ancient throne, high in imagined state, devoured his
Speaker 1: son and gorged himself with flesh of his own flesh,
Speaker 1: and in his rage of gluttony, called out for Ittis
Speaker 1: to attend and share the feast. Cursed with a joy
Speaker 1: she could conceal no more, and eager to gloat over
Speaker 1: his distress, Procne cried out, inside yourself, you have the
Speaker 1: thing that you are asking for. Amazed, he looked around
Speaker 1: and called his son again. That instant Philamella sprang forth,
Speaker 1: her hair disordered and all stained with blood of murder.
Speaker 1: Unable then to speak, she hurled the head of Ittis
Speaker 1: in his father's fear struck face, and more than ever
Speaker 1: longed for fitting words. The Thracian Terrius overturned the table,
Speaker 1: and howling, called upon from the stygy and pit the
Speaker 1: viprous sisters, tearing at his breast in miserable effort to
Speaker 1: disgorge the half digested goblets of his son, he called
Speaker 1: himself his own child's sepulcher, and wept the hot tears
Speaker 1: of a frenzied man. Then with his sword he rushed
Speaker 1: at the two sisters fleeing from him. They seemed to
Speaker 1: rise on wings, and it was true, for they had
Speaker 1: changed to birds. Then Filamella, flitting into the woods, found
Speaker 1: refuge in the leaves, but Procne flew straight to the
Speaker 1: sheltering gables of a roof, and always, if you look,
Speaker 1: you can observe the brand of murder on the swallow's
Speaker 1: breast red feathers. From that day, and terru Swift, in
Speaker 1: his great agitation and his will to wreak a fierce revenge, himself,
Speaker 1: is turned into a crested bird. His long, sharp beak
Speaker 1: is given him instead of a long sword, and so
Speaker 1: because his beak is long and sharp, he rightly bears
Speaker 1: the name of Hoopo. Before the number of his years
Speaker 1: was told Pandeon with the shades of Tartarus. Because of
Speaker 1: this has wandered in sad dooms. Erectheus, next in line
Speaker 1: with mighty sway and justice, ruled all Athens on the throne.
Speaker 1: Left vacant by the good Pandeon's death, four daughters and
Speaker 1: four sons were granted him, and of his daughters, two
Speaker 1: were beautiful, and one of these was wed to Kephalus,
Speaker 1: grandson of Eolus. But Mighty Boreus desired the hand of
Speaker 1: orothea fair and lovable king Tereus, and the Thracians were
Speaker 1: then such obstacles to Boreus. The god was long kept
Speaker 1: from his dear beloved, Although the great King who compels
Speaker 1: the cold north wind, had sought with prayers to win
Speaker 1: her hand, and urged his love and gentleness, not force.
Speaker 1: When quite aware his wishes were disdained, he roughly said,
Speaker 1: with customary rage and violence away with sentiment mental talk,
Speaker 1: my prayers and kind intentions are despised. But I should
Speaker 1: blame nobody but myself. Then why should I despising my
Speaker 1: great strength to base myself to weakness and soft prayers.
Speaker 1: Might is my right and violence is my strength. By force,
Speaker 1: I drive the force of gloomy clouds. Tremendous actions are
Speaker 1: the whine of life, monarch of violence. Rolling on clouds,
Speaker 1: I toss the waters, and I fell huge trees, knotted
Speaker 1: old oaks, and whirled upon ice winds. I scatter the
Speaker 1: light snow and pelt the earth with sleet and hail.
Speaker 1: I rush through boundless voids. My thunders, rumble in the
Speaker 1: hollow clouds, and crash upon my brothers. Fire to fire.
Speaker 1: Possessed of demon rage, I penetrate sheer to the utmost
Speaker 1: caverns of old Earth, and, straining up from those unfathomed deeps,
Speaker 1: scatter the terror stricken shades of hell. And hurl death
Speaker 1: dealing earthquakes through the world. Such are the fateful powers
Speaker 1: I should use, and never trust entreaties to prevail or
Speaker 1: win my bride. Force is the law of life. And
Speaker 1: now impetuous Boreas, having howled resounding words, unrolled his rustling
Speaker 1: wings that fanned the earth and ruffled the wild sea,
Speaker 1: and swiftly wrapping untrod mountain peaks and whirling mantles of
Speaker 1: far woven dust. Thence downward hovered to the darkened world,
Speaker 1: and canopied and artificial knight of swarthy overshadowing wings caught
Speaker 1: up the trembling orethea to his breast, Nor did he
Speaker 1: hesitate an airy course until his huge wings fanned the
Speaker 1: chilling winds around Caconian walls. There she was pledged, the
Speaker 1: wife of that cold northern king of storms, and unto
Speaker 1: him she gave those hero twins, endowed with wings of
Speaker 1: their immortal sire, and graceful in their mother's form and face.
Speaker 1: Their bird like wings were not fledged at their birth,
Speaker 1: and those twin boys, Zetties and Calais, at first were
Speaker 1: void of feathers and soft down. But when their golden
Speaker 1: hair and beards were grown, wings like an eagle came
Speaker 1: and feather down grew golden on their cheeks, and when
Speaker 1: from youth they entered manhood quick they were to join
Speaker 1: the Argonauts, who for the golden fleece sought in that
Speaker 1: first ship ventured on the sea. Oh god, well that
Speaker 1: was an episode. I fucking love the Metamorphoses and like,
Speaker 1: it's incredible how much the story of pragnein Filamela is
Speaker 1: fucking horrifying and also just like really well written, even
Speaker 1: in this translation. Anyway, I don't have much to say
Speaker 1: because it was really hard to read, and I think
Speaker 1: it was probably hard to listen to, so thanks for
Speaker 1: listening off. It is great. Procney and Filamella and fucking
Speaker 1: Arius is one of the worst stories that exists in
Speaker 1: all of classical mythology. Let's not go mits Baby, as
Speaker 1: written produced by me Live Albert Mikaela. Smith is the
Speaker 1: hermest my Olympians. She does everything, She's the best. Stephanie
Speaker 1: Foley is also the best. She works and transcribe the
Speaker 1: podcast for YouTube captions and accessibility. I can't speak anymore.
Speaker 1: This is a fourth thing I've recorded today and my
Speaker 1: mind's turning to mush see who podcast is hosted and
Speaker 1: monetized by ACAST. The rest is what I usually say. Thanks,
Speaker 1: I am living. I love this shit.