Tyro’s Line

21“Thus we conferred. Meantime the women came
Around me, moved by mighty Persephone;
In throngs they gathered to the dark red blood.
Then, as I pondered how to question each,
This seemed the wisest —from my sturdy thigh
I plucked the trenchant sword, and suffered not
All that were there to taste the blood at once;
So one by one they came, and each in turn
Declared her lineage. Thus I questioned all.

22“Then saw I highborn Tyro first, who claimed
To be the daughter of that blameless man
Salmoneus, and who called herself the wife
Of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She loved
Enipeus, hallowed river, fairest stream
Of all that flow on earth, and often walked
Beside its pleasant waters. He whose arms
Surround the islands, Poseidon, once put on
The river’s form, and at its gulfy mouth
Met her; the purple waters stood upright
Around them like a wall, and formed an arch,
And hid the god and woman. There he loosed
The virgin zone of Tyro, shedding sleep
Upon her. Afterward he took her hand
And said: ‘Rejoice, O maiden, in our love,
For with the year’s return shall you bring forth
Illustrious sons; the embraces of the gods
Are not unfruitful. Rear them carefully.
And now return to your abode, and watch
Your words, and keep your secret. You must know
That I am Poseidon, he who shakes the earth.’

23“He spoke, and plunged into the billowy deep.
And she became a mother, and brought forth
Pelias and Neleus, valiant ministers
Of mighty Zeus. On the broad lands
Of Iaolchos Pelias dwelt, and reared
Vast flocks of sheep, while Neleus made his home
In Pylos midst the sands. The queenly dame,
His mother, meanwhile brought forth other sons
To Cretheus —Aeson first, and Pheres next,
And Amythaon, great in horsemanship.