"Thus did we converse, and anon
Persephone sent up the ghosts of the wives and daughters of all the
most famous men. They gathered in crowds about the blood, and I
considered how I might question them severally. In the end I deemed
that it would be best to draw the keen blade that hung by my sturdy
thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at once. So they
came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned her told me
her race and lineage.
"The first I saw was Tyro. She
was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She
fell in love with the river Enipeus who is much the most beautiful
river in the whole world. Once when she was taking a walk by his side
as usual, Poseidon, disguised as her lover, lay with her at the mouth
of the river, and a huge seething wave arched itself like a mountain
over them to hide both woman and god, whereon he loosed her virgin
girdle and laid her in a deep slumber. When the god had accomplished
the deed of love, he took her hand in his own and said, ‘Tyro,
rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods are not fruitless,
and you will have fine twins about this time twelve months. Take
great care of them. I am Poseidon, so now go home, but hold your
tongue and do not tell any one.’
"Then he dived under the sea, and
she in due course bore Pelias and Neleus, who both of them served
Zeus with all their might. Pelias was a great breeder of sheep and
lived in Iolkos, but the other lived in Pylos. The rest of her
children were by Cretheus, namely, Aison, Pheres, and Amythaon, who
was a mighty warrior and charioteer.
"Next to her I saw Antiope,
daughter to Asopos, who could boast of having slept in the arms of
even Zeus himself, and who bore him two sons Amphion and Zethos.
These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and built a wall all round
it; for strong though they were they could not hold Thebes till they
had walled it.
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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