“And there I saw the dame supremely fair, Chloris, whom Neleus with large marriage-gifts Wooed, and brought home a bride; the youngest she Among the daughters of Iäsus’ son, Amphion, ruler o’er Orchomenus, The Minyeian town, and o’er the realm Of Pylos. Three illustrious sons she bore To Neleus—Nestor, Chromius, and a chief Of lofty bearing, Periclymenus. She brought forth Pero also, marvellous In beauty, wooed by all the region round; but Neleus would bestow the maid on none Save him who should drive off from Phylacè The beeves, broad-fronted and with crooked horns, Of valiant Iphicles—a difficult task. One man alone, a blameless prophet, dared Attempt it; but he found himself withstood By fate, and rigid fetters, and a force Of rustic herdsmen. Months and days went by, And the full year, led by the hours, came round. The valiant Iphicles, who from the seer Had heard the oracles explained, took off The shackles, and the will of Jove was done.
“Then saw I Leda, wife of Tyndarus, Who bore to Tyndarus two noble sons, Castor the horseman, Pollux skilled to wield The cestus. Both of them have still a place Upon the fruitful earth; for Jupiter Gave them such honor that they live by turns Each one a day, and then are with the dead Each one by turns; they rank among the gods.
“The wife of Aloëus next appeared, Iphidameia, who, as she declared, Had won the love of Neptune. She brought forth Two short-lived sons—one like a god in form, Named Otus; and the other, far renowned, Named Ephialtes. These the bounteous earth Nourished to be the tallest of mankind, And goodliest, save Orion. When the twain Had seen but nine years of their life, they stood In breadth of frame nine cubits, and in height Nine fathoms. They against the living gods Threatened to wage, upon the Olympian height, Fierce and tumultuous battle, and to fling Ossa upon Olympus, and to pile Pelion, with all its growth of leafy woods, On Ossa, that the heavens might thus be scaled. And they, if they had reached their prime of youth, Had made their menace good. The son of Jove And amber-haired Latona took their lives Ere yet beneath their temples sprang the down And covered with its sprouting tufts the chin.