On Unbelievable Stories (16-20)

The myth has been handed down that Circe used a potion to transform men. Actually, she was a courtesan and used to enchant her guests. At first she would ply them with every kind of fawning act to gain their favour. After they had become entranced, she used their desires to keep them leashed to her, acting foolishly like animals in pursuit of pleasure. Odysseus defeated her too.

Who would assume that a mortal being could breathe fire from its own body, given that fire destroys everything? But rather, the fire-breathing bulls were wild and untamed creatures who were quick to destroy whatever they looked on. And so the quick destructiveness that accompanied them was portrayed as fire.

The account given about the Hydra is that she was a many-headed beast – but there’s no truth in this. Rather, it is likely that she had many offspring who hung around her and assisted her since she had given birth to them.[*] Together they killed anyone who came near.

Who could believe that, after Cadmos sowed the serpent’s teeth, armed warriors sprung up? Rather, Cadmos came to rule the region after slaying the beast who had laid waste to the land. Cadmos gathered the scattered inhabitants together in one place. They, being warlike and bestial, immediately turned on each other. All but a few were killed.

They say that a serpent used to keep guard over the golden apples of the Hesperides. Actually, there was a man, Dracon [Serpent], who accumulated a lot of gold as an orchardist. He was sought out by some distinguished ladies who bound his spirit with erotic desires. For the rest of his life they kept him as a helper and a guard for their pleasure garden.