41
And next comes Megara, with Nisus and Scylia, the purple lock, the expedient of Minos, and his ingratitude towards his benefactress.Minos tied her to the stern of his ship and dragged her in its wake. In representing this as an “expedient,” Lucian seems to be thinking of it as Minos’ way of carrying out a revious bargain with Scylla to “take her with him,” or the ike. So Tarpeia bargained with the Sabines for what they had on their arms, expecting their bracelets; but they crushed her with their shields. To these succeed Cithaeron, with all that befell the Thebans and the house of Labdacus; the advent of Cadmus, the heifer’s taking ground, the serpent’s teeth, and the emergence of the Sown Men; further, the transformation of Cadmus into a serpent, the rising of the walls to the music of the lyre, the madness of the wall-builder,Amphion, who went mad of grief over the slaying of his and Niobe’s children by Apollo and Artemis. the boastfulness of his wife Niobe, and her grief-stricken silence, the story of Pentheus and of Actaeon, the story of Oedipus, Heracles with all his labours, and the murder of his children.
42
Then comes Corinth, also full of myths, since she has Glauce and Creon, and before them Bellerophon and Stheneboea, and the quarrel between Helius and Poseidon;For the possession of Corinth; Briareus, as mediator, awarded the Isthmus to Poseidon, Acro-Corinth to Helius. afterwards, the madness of Athamas, the flight of the children of Nephele through the air on the back of the ram, and the reception of Ino and Melicertes.In Corinth, as the sea-divinities Palaemon and Leucothea.
