Herse, a daughter of Cecrops, is beloved by Mercury, who discloses his passion to Aglauros, her sister, who exacts large sums of money as the price of her connivance at the intrigue—Minerva, offended at the rapacity of the maiden, commands Envy to torment her continually; and Mercury at length changes her into a stone.
This done, the god flew up on high, and pass’d O’er lofty Athens, by Minerva graced, And wide Munichia, while his eyes survey All the vast region that beneath him lay.
’Twas now the feast, when each Athenian maid Her yearly homage to Minerva paid, In canisters with garlands cover’d o’er, High on their heads their mystic gifts they bore; And now, returning in a solemn train, The troop of shining virgins fill’d the plain.