Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/266

258 And Periclymenus the wide-renown'd, And, last, produced a wonder of the earth, 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) 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 Concluded, and the new-born year begun) Illustrious Iphicles releas'd the seer, Grateful for all the oracles resolved, Till then obscure. So stood the will of Jove. Next, Leda, wife of Tyndarus I saw, 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 And die, and dignity partake divine. The comfort of Aloëus, next, I view'd, Iphimedeia; she th' embrace profess'd