And Periclymenus the wide-renown'd,
And, last, produced a wonder of the earth, 345
Pero, by ev'ry neighbour prince around
In marriage sought; but Neleus her on none
Deign'd to bestow, save only on the Chief
Who should from Phylace drive off the beeves
(Broad-fronted, and with jealous care secured) 350
Of valiant Iphicles. One undertook
That task alone, a prophet high in fame,
Melampus; but the Fates fast bound him there
In rig'rous bonds by rustic hands imposed.
At length (the year, with all its months and days 355
Concluded, and the new-born year begun)
Illustrious Iphicles releas'd the seer,
[1]Grateful for all the oracles resolved,
Till then obscure. So stood the will of Jove.
Next, Leda, wife of Tyndarus I saw, 360
Who bore to Tyndarus a noble pair,
Castor the bold, and Pollux cestus-famed.
They pris'ners in the fertile womb of earth,
Though living, dwell, and even there from Jove
High priv'lege gain; alternate they revive 365
And die, and dignity partake divine.
The comfort of Aloëus, next, I view'd,
Iphimedeia; she th' embrace profess'd
- ↑ Iphicles had been informed by the Oracles, that he should have no children 'till instructed by a prophet how to obtain them; a service which Melampus had the good fortune to render him.
Of
