On Unbelievable Stories (20-23)

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.

It is said that Heracles went down to Hades and returned with Cerberos, and that Orpheus did the same with his wife Eurydice. But the truth is that when someone had returned safely after enduring a long and dangerous trip, people would declare that he had been delivered from Hades. It is just like we declare even now that those who survive great suffering, perilous journeys or deadly diseases have returned safely from Hades.

Phaethon, the son of Helios, longed to climb into his father’s chariot and drive it. He drove it incompetently and people were killed by the heat, so Zeus struck him down with his thunderbolt…[*]

It is said that Orpheus caused rocks, trees, beasts, and birds to move. Rather, one might say truthfully that he took people who lived like beasts and knew nothing of either customs or laws and filled them with a fear of the gods, and that he took people who were hard and stubborn like rocks and trees and induced in them piety. Because he charmed those people with his words he earned this reputation.