The Dance (41-45)

And next comes Megara, with Nisus and Scylia, the purple lock, the expedient of Minos, and his ingratitude towards his benefactress.[*] To these succeed Cithaeron, with all that befell the Thebans and the house of Labdacus; the advent of Cadmus, the heifer’s taking ground, the serpent’s teeth, and the emergence of the Sown Men; further, the transformation of Cadmus into a serpent, the rising of the walls to the music of the lyre, the madness of the wall-builder,[*] the boastfulness of his wife Niobe, and her grief-stricken silence, the story of Pentheus and of Actaeon, the story of Oedipus, Heracles with all his labours, and the murder of his children.

Then comes Corinth, also full of myths, since she has Glauce and Creon, and before them Bellerophon and Stheneboea, and the quarrel between Helius and Poseidon;[*] afterwards, the madness of Athamas, the flight of the children of Nephele through the air on the back of the ram, and the reception of Ino and Melicertes.[*]

Next is the story of the descendants of Pelops, with Mycenae and what happened there, and previously—Inachus, Io, and her warder Argus; Atreus, Thyestes, Aerope, and the golden lamb; the defloration of Pelopeia;[*] the slaying of Agamemnon, and the punishment of Clytemestra. Even before that, the expedition of the Seven Captains, with Adrastus’ reception of the exiles who became his sons-in-law, and the oracle about them,[*] the refusal to bury the fallen, and the death of Antigone and Menoeceus on that account.

Also what happened on Nemean soil, the story of Hypsipyle and Archemorus, is very essential for the dancer to remember.[*] And from an earlier time he will know the enforced virginity of Danae, the birth of Perseus, and the quest of the Gorgons which he assumed. Related to this is the Ethiopian tale of Cassiopea, Andromeda, and Cepheus, who have been placed in the roll of constellations by the faith of men of after time. And he will also know that ancient tale of Aegyptus and Danaus, and the bride-night plot.

Sparta, too, affords not a few stories of this sort:[*] Hyacinthus, and Apollo’s rival, Zephyrus; the lad’s slaying with the discus, the flower that came from the blood, and the word of woe (AI) that is written