On Unbelievable Stories (1-5)

They say that Medousa turned to stone those who gazed at her, and that when Perseus cut off her head a horse with wings came out. But it actually happened like this. She was a beautiful courtesan and any man who caught sight of her was transfixed as if he had been turned to stone. It’s just like we say, upon catching sight of her, he was turned to stone.

When Perseus encountered her, she fell in love with him. She squandered her own wealth and utterly wasted the prime years of her life. When she had lost her youth and her wealth, she was left a lecherous old woman, the kind we call a horse. For the head is the bloom of youth, and that is what Perseus took from her.

It is said that Scylla devoured those who sailed by. Actually, she was a beautiful courtesan living on an island and around her she had gluttonous hangers-on who followed her like dogs. With their help she ruined her guests, among whom were the companions of Odysseus. But she was not able to get him because he always had his wits about him.

It is said that Caineus was originally a woman but was later turned by Poseidon into a man who could not be wounded by bronze and iron. Actually, as a young boy Caineus was loved by Poseidon, and later on when he reached manhood became strong-willed and indomitable. He could not be bought off by gifts of bronze and iron. (Gold and silver were not yet in use.)

The story handed down about Atlas is that he bore the sky on his shoulders. This is impossible, since he too is beneath the sky. But rather, Atlas was a wise man and the first to observe astronomical phenomena. He predicted storms and the shifting of the winds and the rising and setting of stars. [*] Because of this, a myth was fabricated that he bore the world upon himself.

It is said that around Mt Pelion and Mt Pholoe there existed double-formed creatures, who were human down to the hips and the rest of them had the form of a horse. This is not true: it is impossible for a being in which are merged different creatures to be born and nourished.

Rather, back when the usefulness of horses was still unknown, the men who first rode horses made raids on the plains and plundered them. To those who first saw them from far off, they gave the illusion that they were created from two creatures.