And then we wonder that men despise us when
they see such laughable and portentous deities! I
omit to mention that he has also brought up two
women, one his sweetheart Ariadne, whose very
head-band he has admitted into the starry choir, and
the other the daughter of Icarius the farmer! Erigone; her dog Maera guided her to the spot where Icarius lay buried. He had been slain by drunken shepherds to whom he had given wine that Dionysus Thad taught him how to make. After her suicide Erigone became Virgo, and Maera, it would seem from Lucian’s xuvidiov, Procyon (Canis Minor). No doubt it is Momus’ indignation about the dog that accounts for his failure to mention Icarius’ introduction into the heavens as Bootes. And
what is most ridiculous of all, Gods, even Erigone’s
dog—that too he has brought up, so that the little
maid shall not be distressed if she cannot have in
heaven her pet, darling doggie! Does not all
this look to you like insolence, impudence, and
mockery? But let me tell you about others.