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Pittacus thereupon said that it was a famous story,The story is briefly mentioned by Plutarch, Moralia, 984 E, and is given in full with some variations by Athenaeus, 466 C, who quotes as his authority Anticleides an Athenian. and one mentioned by many, to this effect. An oracle had been given to those who were setting out to found a colony in Lesbos that when their voyage should bring them to a reef which is called Midland, then they should cast into the sea at that place a bull as an offering to Poseidon, and to Amphitrite and the Nymphs of the sea a living virgin. The commanders were seven in number, all kings, and the eighth was Echelaüs, designated by the oracle at Delphi to head the colony, although he was young and still unmarried. The seven, or as many as had unmarried daughters, cast lots, and the lot fell upon the daughter of Smintheus. Her they adorned with fine raiment and golden ornaments as they arrived opposite the spot, and purposed, as soon as they had offered prayer, to cast her into the sea. It happened that one of the company on board, a young man of no mean origin as it seems, was in love with her. His name, according to a tradition still preserved, was Enalus. He, conceiving a despairing desire to help the maiden in her present misfortune, at the critical moment hurriedly clasped her in his arms, and threw himself with her into the sea. Straightway a rumour spread, having no sure foundation, but nevertheless carrying conviction to many in the community, regarding their safety and rescue. Later, as they say, Enalus appeared in Lesbos, and told how they had been borne by dolphins through the sea, and put ashore unharmed on the mainland. Other things he related more miraculous even than this, which astonished and fascinated the crowd, and he gave good grounds for believing them all by a deed which he did; for when a towering wave precipitated itself on the shores of the island, and the people were in a state of terror, he, all by himself, went to meet the sea, and cuttlefish followed him to the shrine of Poseidon, the biggest of which brought a stone Athenaeus (466 C) says a golden cup was brought out of the sea by Enalus. with him, and this stone Enalus took and dedicated there, and this we call Enalus. And in general, he continued, if a man realizes a difference between the impossible and the unfamiliar, and between false reasoning and false opinion, such a man, Chilon, who would neither believe nor disbelieve at haphazard, would be most observant of the precept, Avoid extremes, as you have enjoined.
