to get againe his sister Exione And howe Hector answered and of his good councell and how Paris declared to his father the visions and the promise of the Goddesse Venus c. WHen the king Priamus was thus acertained of the hate of the Greekes and by no farre meanes hee coulde recouer his sister hee was mooued with great ire and thought that hee would send a great Nauy into Greece for to hurt and damage the Greckes Alas king Priamus tell me what misaduenture is this that hath giuen to thée so great hardinesse of courage for to cast out thy selfe from thy wealth and rest Why mayest not thou refraine the first moouinges of thy courage albeit that it was not in thy puissance yet thou oughtest to haue and take good councell and aduise and to haue in thy minde that men say commonly Some man thinketh to reuenge his sorrow and he increaseth it It had been a more sure thing to thee to haue remembred the prouerbe that saith that hee that sitteth well let him not mooue Or els hee that is well at his ease let him keep therein All things may bée suffered saue wealth a man that goeth vpon plaine ground hath nothing to stumble at In this maner the aforesaid king Priamus thought long and after hee assembled on a day all his noble men in his pallace of Ilion and saide vnto them Ye know how by your councell Anthenor was sent into Greece for to recouer my sister Exione that by fair meanes Ye doe verie well know also howe that hee is returned and come backe and also what wronges and opprobries he hath found And me seemeth that the Gréeks make little account of the iniuries that they haue done vnto vs at the least they by their wordes repent them not but yet they menace vs more strongly then euer they did God forbid that euer it shoulde come vnto vs like as they menace vs. But I pray the gods to giue vs power to auenge vs to their losse And as for me me seemeth that we be more puissant and strong then they are and also we haue the most surest citie and the best furnished in the world and also we haue of great lordes verie great plentie alied to vs for to helpe and ayde vs at our need and I thinke for conclusion that we haue well the puissance for to dammage and hurt our enemies in many maners and valour to defend vs from them And so should it be good for to beginne to shew to them what puissance we haue to grieue them withall If ye thinke it good we will send our men secretly that shall do to them great dammage ere that they shall be readie for to defend themselues And for that ye ought euery one to employ your selues to take vengeance of these iniuries and that yee haue no doubt for any thing inasmuch as they had the first victorie for it happeneth often times that the conquerours be vanquished of them that were vanquished c. Then all they that were present allowed the aduise of the king and offered euery man by himselfe to employ themselues to the same with all the power they coulde whereat the king Priamus had great ioy And after that he had giuen them thankes he let euery man depart and go home to their owne houses excepting onely his sonnes legitimate and the bastardes whom hee held in his pallace and tolde to them his complaint of the Greekes with weeping teares in this maner My sonnes ye haue well in your memorie the death of your Grandfather the seruitude of your Aunt Exione that they holde by your life in manner of a common woman And you be so puissant me seemeth that reason should instruct you for to employ your selfe to reuenge this great iniurie and shame And if this mooue you not thereto yet yee ought to doe it to satisfie my will and pleasure for I am ready to die for sorrow and anguish which ye ought be bound for to remedie to your power that haue caused you so wel to be nourished and brought forth And thou Hector my right déere sonne that art the eldest of thy brethren the most wise and the most strong I pray thee first that thou enterprise to put in execution this my will And that thou be duke and prince of thy brethrē in this work and all the other will obey gladly vnto thee And in like maner shall all they doe of this realme for the great prowesse that they know in thée And know that from this day forth I discharge me of all this worke and put it vpon thée that art the most strong and mightie to maintain battels for I am auncient and olde and may not from henceforth helpe my selfe so well as I was wont to doe c. To these wordes aunswered Hector right soberly and sweetly saying my father and my right déere and Soueraigne Lord there is none of all your sonnes but that it séemeth to him a thing humane to desire vengeaunce of these iniuries and to vs that be of high noblenesse a litle iniurie ought to be great As it is so that the qualitie of the person groweth and diminisheth so ought the qualitie of the iniurie And if wee be desirous and haue appetite to take vengeance of our iniuries we forsake not nor leaue therein the nature of men for in like manner doe and vse the dumbe beastes to boo and nature it selfe teacheth and guideth them thereto My right déere Lord and father there is none of all your sonnes that ought more to desire the vengeaunce of the iniurie and death of our Lord and graundfather then I that am the eldest But I will if it please you that yée consider in this enterprise not only the beginning but also the middle and the end to what perill wee may come héereafter for otherwhile little profite some things well begunne that come to an euill end Then me thinketh that it is much more allowable for a man to absteine him for to beginne thinges whereof the endes bee dangerous and when of may come more euill men good for any thing is not said to be fortunate or happie vntill the time that it come vnto a good end I say not these thinges for anie euill meaning or cowardise but only to the end that ye beginne not a thing and specially that thing that yee haue in your heart to put in practise but that ye first be well counselled Ye knowe well that all Affricke and Europe bee subiectes vnto the Greekes How be they furnished with knights worthy hardy and rich right maruellous Cortes at this day the force and strength of vs here is not to be compared vnto them in force nor in valiance Wherefore if we begin the warre against them wee might lightly come to a mischieuous and shamefull end We that bee in so great rest and ease amongst our selues what shall we seeke for to trouble our prosperitie and welfare Exione is not of so high
well remembred of the great iniuries that yee and other haue done to him that for so little cause or occasion haue slaine his father destroied his citie and his people some dead and some in seruitude And yet that is worse to holde his sister foully as a concubin and yet at least he ought to haue wedded her And forasmuch as yée be a man of great witte and discretion the king my lord wisheth you and warneth you that from henceforth yee cease the rage and the great slaunders that may come for this cause that all good men ought to eschewe to their power that his sister be safely deliuered again to him and he will pardon the residue and wil hold it as a thing that neuer had happened c. When the king Peleus had heard Anthenor so speak hee chafed with him anon in great anger and ire and beganne to blame the king Priamus and said that his wit was light And after menaced Anthenor and commaunded him that he should go anon out of his land for if hee tarried long there hée woulde flea him with great tormentes Anthenor taried not long after but entered into his shippe without taking leaue of king Peleus and sailed so farre by the sea that he arriued at Salamine where the king Thelamon soiourned Then Anthenor went vnto him and declared to him the cause of his comming in this maner Sir said hee the king Priamus requesteth effectuously your noblenesse that his sister Exione whom ye holde in your seruice so foully ye would restore vnto him For it is not fitting nor seemly vnto your glorie nor renowne to vse so the daughter and sister of a king and that is issued of a more noble ligne then yée bée And in case that ye will restore to him his sister hee will hold all thinges as not done as well the damages as the dishonours that by you and other haue beene done vnto him When the king Thelamon hadde heard Anthenor so speake hee beganne to waxe passing angry and aunswered to him right fiersly saying My friend saide hee whatsoeuer thou bee I haue much maruaile of the simplenesse of thy king to whom I beare none amitie neyther he to mee And therefore I ought not to hearken vnto his praier nor request Thy king ought to knowe that I and other haue béen there for to reuenge an iniurie that his father Laomedon did late to some of our friendes And forasmuche as I then entered first into the citie of Troy with great trauaile effusion of my bloud Exione of whom thou speakest which is right faire was giuen vnto mée for the guerdon of my victorie for to do with her my will And forsomuch as shee is so well to my pleasure as shée that is of great beautie and replenished with all Sciences it is not to me so light a thing to render and deliuer againe a thing that is so faire and delightfull which I haue conquered with so great paine and daunger But thou shalt say to thy king that hée may neuer recouer her but by the point of the sword but as for me I repute thée for a foole that euer wouldest enterprise this message wherein lieth thy great perill for thou art come among people that vehemently hate thée and thy like therefore go thy way hastily out of this countrey For if thou abide any more here I will make thée die by cruell and hateful death c. When Anthenor heard Thelamon so speake hee entered right hastily into his ship and sailed so farre that hée arriued in Thessalie where the king Castor and the king Polux his brother soiourned Hée went a shore spéedily from his shippe and declared his message like as hée had done to the other And the king answered to him in great yre and said to him thus Friend what that thou art I will that thou knowe that wée thinke not to haue iniuried the king Priamus without cause for it is so that the king Laomedon his father then beganne the folly wherefore he was slaine For he wronged first certaine of the Nobles of Greece and therefore wee desire more the euill will of thy king Priamus then his good loue or peace And certes it séemeth well that he had not thée in anie good reckoning when hée sent thee hither to doe this message in this countrey wherefore I wishe thée see well that thou abide not here long for if thou go not incontinent thou shalt die villanously Then Anthenor departed without leaue and entered into his shippe and sailed till hee came to Pilon where the duke Nestor soiourned with a great company of noble men Anthenor went vnto him and saide that hee was messenger of the king Priamus and tolde and counted to him his message in such wise as hee hadde saide to the other before And if the other were angry this Nestor chafed in himselfe more against Anthenor and said to him Ha ha vile varlet who made thee so hardie for to say such thinges before me Certes if it were not that my noblenesse refraine me I woulde anon cause thy tongue to be plucked out of thy head and in despite of thy king I would by force of horse cause to draw thy members one from an other Go thy way hastily out of my sight or by my Gods I will cause to bee done all that I haue heere said c. Then Anthenor was all abashed at the horrible words of Duke Nestor and doubting the furie of his tyrannie returned vnto the Sea and sette him on his returne to Troy ward And hee hadde not been long on the Sea when a great tempest arose and the aire began to waxe darke and to raine and to thunder right maruellously and there rose great windes contrary and waxed thicke and horrible mistie and his shippe was borne on the waues one time high and another time lowe in great perill and there was not a man in the saide shippe but supposed to die and that made not speciall promises and vowes to their Gods and in these perilles were they three dayes and on the fourth day the tempest ceased and and the aire waxed all cléere and became peaceable Then they comforted themselues and sayled so farre that they came to the port of Troy and went straite to their Temples to giue then thankes to their Gods for that they hadde escaped so manie perilles as they hadde been in And after Anthenor went with a great companie of noble men before the king Priamus and when all the Barons were assembled and all the sonnes of the king present then Anthenor tolde all by order what hee had done in Gréece like as it is contained heretofore At these tidinges was king Priamus sore troubled and greeued for the opprobrious tauntes that they had offered to his messenger in Greece And then he had no more hope nor trust to recouer his sister CHAP. II. Howe the king Priamus assembled all his barons for to know whom hee might send into Greece for
she on a day called her deare sonne Saturne with Titan and other of the Countrey and there rehearsed and saide vnto them that her yong sonne Saturne should succéede and haue the heritages of her husband Titan hearing the will of his mother redoubled his sorrow it caused him to wéepe great plentie of teares and knéeled too fore his mother humbly and saide in in this wise Mother I am right infortunate when ye will that my right patrimonie be put from me and that naturally me ought to haue by right should be giuen from me and yet because that I am not so wel formed of members as my brother Saturne is which sorrow is to me passing noyous ye wil put from me my fortune and byrth which ye may not do by lawfull reason I am your first sonne ye haue nourished me with the substance of your blood as your childe borne in your bellie nine Moneths Also I am he that first dwelled and inhabited your feminine chambers none tofore me tooke there any seisin when I tooke that then ye gaue mée your due loue and sorted to me the succession of your heritages Then whence cometh this that ye nowe subuert and destroy that nature hath once ioyned giuen me euery mother is bounden to holde the conseruation of the right of her child Alas mother will ye make me bastard fro my right am I a bastard was not Vranus my father am not I he that ye were so glad for what time ye felt first that I was conceiued in the lawfull bed of my father your husband am I not be that ye bare and gaue mee sucke of your breastes and oftentimes kissed me that is to say in my tender dayes what tyme my members were soft and tender Ha mother acquit you ayeinst me as ye beholden and bounden by right and knowledge ye that I am Titan and for as much as I am lesse and not so well adressed as my brother Saturne so much yée ought the more desire my promotion and furthering When dame Vesca heard her sonne Titan speake so sadly and profoundly she had pittie on him yet the pitie was not of so high vertue that might surmount the great loue that was rooted betwéene her and Saturne and then she sayde to Titan her sonne Titan my sonne I denie not that thou tookest thy substance betwéene my sides and were brought into this world and know verily that I loue thée intirely and that I desire thy weale but it is so cleare and euident in euery mans sight that for the default loathlinesse and abhomination of thy members thou art not a man sufficient to defend thy fathers heritage with great labour and paine for if it happen that one man would make warre thou were not able to resist him what wouldest thou that I should do thy brother hath the loue of al the people for his beautie and his vertuous maners and euery man holdeth him in reuerence and thée in derision and scorne Be thou content thou shalt lacke nothing and if thou lacke speake to me and I shall remedie it but speake neuer no more to mee for the heritage for Saturne shall obtaine it by the fauour of his wisedome méekenesse and benignitie and also because the common sort iudgeth him and séeth that hee shall once bee the man whose life shall shine gloriously Titan was sort troubled of the words of his mother and he began to chaunge colour and waxe red hauing suspition to Saturne that hee had contriued this matter against him whereupon he drew him apart to him and saide Saturne the enuie that thou hast to raigne aboue me hath now ingendred in my heart thy mortall mischiefe whereof the hate shall endure vnto the mortall separation of thy life and of mine and of my children Thou knowest well that I am the eldest son of our father Vranus how art thou so hardy and presumptuous to inhaunce thy selfe aboue me by conspired imagination I will that thou knowe verily that like as thou hast conspired in my temporal domage semblably I shall conspire to thy eternal domage hurt And name me from henceforth thy mortall enemie When Saturne heard these burning and enflamed menasses of his brother Titan he excused himselfe and answered that he neuer thought in his life to come to the succession of their father nor neuer had imagined nor conspired it Then Vesca their mother Cibell and Ceres tooke the wordes fro Saturne and saide to Titan that his threatning to Saturne was for naught for he should raigne and be Lord and maister Titan full of felonie and more angrie then hée was too fore said plainly that he would not suffer it Saturne had a great part of the people that assisted him and gaue him fauour And Titan also had other on his side which began to murmure the one partie agaynst the other All the compapanie was sore troubled and began to thrust in and enployed them to cease the noyse and to accord Titan notwithstanding it was hard to doe for alway he would haue runne vpon Saturne if he had not béene hold and letted alway In the ende the wise men shewed Titan by great reason that he was the more féeble and that Saturne was more in the fauour of the people and that he would modere himselfe a little and sayde that he should agrée and graunt the raigne to Saturne by condition that if hee married he should be bound to put to death all his children males that should be begotten of his séede if he any had for the wele of both parties Vesca with her daughter and the auncient wise people accorded to Titan this condition and laboured so to Saturne that they brought them to the Temple of their god Mars that was in the citie of Oson whereof was Lord a mightie man called Milliseus and that afore the image of the god Mars Saturne swore that if him happed to marry and that hee had any children males hee would slea them all thus was Titan content that his brother shuld enioy the land of Crete the peace was made betwéen them both CHAP. II. ¶ How Saturne was crowned first King of Crete and how he found first diuers sciences wherefore the people held him in great honour as a God AFter the treatie made of the peace of Titan and Saturne Titan saw in himselfe that hee might not worshipfully abide and dwell being vnder his yonger brother had leuer go and search his aduentures in other places then to be thral to his yonger brother Hee tooke his wife his children and friendes and departed at all aduenture into diuers places where he found fortune so good and happy that by armes and strength he made himselfe king of many diuerse Realmes which hee departed vnto his chlldren and commised and ordained certaine espies to espie and waite if his brother Saturne married himselfe and if his wife brought foorth men children and whether hée put them to death During these saide things Saturne
spoused and wedded Cibell his sister after their vsage and she was the first Quéene of Crete He liuing with her payed in this wise the due debt of marriage that at the ende of nine moneths Cibell had a sonne which Saturne did put to death acquiting himselfe of the oath that he had made vnto his brother Titan. And of this Boccace maketh no mention But they lay togither againe And Cibell conceyued then of the séede of Saturne another sonne with a daughter that by space of time appeared great in the mothers belly In the time when the lawe of nature was in his vigour and strength the men marryed with their sisters And in especiall the Painims if they were not content and had suffisance of one wife they might take mo without reproch When Saturne knewe that his wife was with childe the second time the death of his first sonne came before him and he said in himselfe that he would that his wife had béen harren Then he began to be full of diuerse fantasies of forthoughts and desired to know what should befall of the fruit of the wombe of Cibell He went himselfe forth to the I le of Delphos vnto the Oracle of the god Apollo that gaue answer to the people that demaunded of things that should after fall and happen And then when hee had done his sacrifice and made his praier the Priest of the Temple put him into a perelos vnder the altar of the forsayd Idol and there he heard a great whirling wind that troubled him and all his wit and vnderstanding that he was in maner of a spasme or a sowns by which he fel to the ground and after that when he arose him thought that the god Aprllo appeared vnto him with a dreadfull face and saide thus to him Saturne what moueth thée to will to knowe thine euill destinie thou hast ingendred a sonne that shal take from thée the diademe of Crete and shall banish thée out of thy realme shall be without phere aboue all people the most fortunate man that euer was borne in Grece After these wordes Saturne came againe to himselfe and remembred him of his euill prophecie that touched the bottom of his heart and so sore anoyed and right pensife hee went out of the Oracle with a troubled hart and all bare of gladnesse and all oppressed and enuironed with wanhops came to his folke and departed thence and went to ship and when he was in his ship hée hung downe his head which he helde not vp till he came to Crete And when he had his head so enclined he beganne to thinke and bee penâ—â—fe And after many right sorrowfull fighs engendred in the roote of Melancholy said in this wise Alas Saturne your king what auaileth me the dignitie to be the first king of Crete what profited me these diuine reuerences or what good doo mee my science when I féele me in putting backe of fortune O fortune soone turning fraile and variable and plying to euery wind like a roster at least stay that the whéele that turneth without ende may speake to me Saturne that inuenter and finder of the coÌ„mon weale And if thou wilt not lende me thy cleare and laughing visage at least lende me thy large eares Thou hast giuen mée triumph and glorie of Crowne and now thou sufferest me to fall from this great worship he gods witnesse it And what is this thou hast consented to my prospertie and now conspirest my mendicitie my fall and shamefull â—nde and intendest that I shall bee named the vnhappie Saturne If all my life hath béene nourished in happinesse and the ende vnhappie and wofull I shall bee called and sayde vnhappie and all my happie fortunes and blisses shall turne more to reproach and shame then to praysing or to anie worship O fortune in what thing haue I offended haue I foughten agaynst thée or haue I done any follie against the magnificence of the goddes Haue I rebelled or offended the aires the worlds the heauens the planets the sâ—â—e the moone the earths the seas what haue I doone or trespast tell me O my God where art thou Hast thou ennie to me be 〈◊〉 I haue béene in the Oracle of the aforesaide God Apollâ— he hath shewed vnto me the ruine of my 〈◊〉 she 〈◊〉 â—hing and breaking of my Dyademe the 〈…〉 the clearenesse of my raigne the enhaunsing 〈…〉 and the putting me out of my Realme that shall or â—eade of his insurrection Alas what remedy to this great sorrow that I haue I haue slaine one of my sonnes wherefore I haue great and bitter sorrow and haue concluded in my selfe that neuer hereafter I will so cruelly spill the life of my children for to die with them After this conclusion I must of very force and sore against my will returne and continue in my first vnnaturall crueltie For if my sonne that nowe is in the wombe of my wife be suffered to liue he shall exile mée and put me out of my Realme and downe off my throne which shall be to me right hard and gréeuous to beare and suffer patiently And therfore it is better to slea him Alas and if I slea him then it séemeth me I should resist the will of the gods which peraduenture will raise him againe and that should be worse for then I should not onely be called an homicide and mansâ—ear but an vnnaturall murtherer not of a Giant nor of a strange man of another land but of a right little childe issued of my proper â—eines bones and flesh That after the Pronostication of the gods is pre-elect and chosen to be the greatest Lord of Greece and soueraigne of all the kings in his time Saturne thus féeling him in great sorrow and trouble and alway worse and worse as afore is said beganne to change his colour and waxe pale full of melancholy and of fantasies and could not appease his vnfortune His most priuie men and they that were most familiar with him durst not approch vnto him but séeing his sorowfull maner they were discomforted in his desolatioÌ„ sorrowful with his sorrow and angry with his anger He was in short time so greatly perturbed and impressed with so eager impresson of sorrow that his face was like vnto Ashes or as he had bee dead alway and after many thoughts he opened his mouth and spake softly thus I slea my selfe by melancholy and am a man greatly abused I haue made an oath vnto my brother Titan that I shal put all my children male to death that shal come of my flesh Peraduenture the gods wold not suffer that I shal be forsworne and haue let me haue knowledge by my god Apollo that my wife hath conceiued a sonne that shall put me out of my Realme to the end that I should slea him forasmuch as I had concluded in my selfe to haue broken mine oath and haue spared the liues of my children And since it is so I shall no longer spare them if it happen
is compared and likened vnto Venus CHAP. XVIII ¶ How Achisius had a daughter named Danae the which he did cause to be shut in a tower for asmuch as he had an answere that she should haue a sonne the which should turne him into a stone IN those daies when Iupiter of Crete flourished in honor strength prowesse and valiance in the Citie of Argos reigned the right mightie king Acrisius that caused his daughter Danaes to be be shut and kept in a tower For to know the genealogie of this king Acrisius in this part it is to be noted that of Iupiter borne of Archade and of a damosel named Isis came a son named Epaphus this Epaphus engendred a son and a daughter the son was named Belus and reigned in a part of Egypt and the daughter had to name Libia diuelled in Affricque where she conceiued a son named Busiris that was an vnhumane tirant as shal be said hereafter in the déeds of Hercules Belus then engendred two sons Danaus and Egyptus Danaus had fiftie daughters and Egyptus had as many sons And these sons and daughters were conioyned together by marriage wéening Egyptus right well to haue married his sons but hee was deceiued of his weening for Danaus for enuie couetousnes to haue the succession made that by his daughters traiterously shuld be murthered all the fiftie sons of the said Egyptus the first night of their espousals as they slept And all they consented in this foule horrible crime of sin except one alone named Hypermnestra which had a stedfast heart of pittie for when shee should haue persecuted her husband Linceus shée saued his life mercifully and also conceiued of his seed a son that was named Abas that after was king of Argos and he engendred the king Acrisyus whereof is made mention in the beginning of this chapter These were the parents and progenitours of king Acrysius he was right puissant in riches but he named himselfe poore for he had no children but one daughter onely which he named Danaes and for to haue a sonne hee went day by day into the temples and oracles of the gods and there made prayers and sacrifices inough fastings almesses and other suffrages All these things might not helpe to bring to passe the accomplishment of his desire His wife came vnto her barraine yeares and hee was out of all hope to haue any childe male and then he comforted him in Danaes his daughter and set his loue so greatly on her that he had no pleasance but onely to be hold her and hee purposed that neuer man shoulde haue her but if it were the most noble and valliant man of the world But for as much as in this world is nothing perdurable this loue was of little enduring and that by the procuring of the king Acrysius for that the loue hee had in Danaes grew in ampliation of naturall ielousie hee went into the oracle of God Belus his olde Grand-father and searching what should be the destinie of his daughter he did cause him to be answered that of her should come a sonne that should turne him into a stone By this answere Acrysius beganne to fall from the great loue that he had to his daughter he returned sorrrowfull and pensiue into his house and became all melancolike without taking ioy or pleasure in any thing that he sawe His daughter was then yong hee sawe her often times otherwhile in crueltie and sometime in pittie The remorse of that that he looked to be transformed into a stone by him that by destinie should be borne of his daughter moued him to cruelty in such wise that often times he determined that he would put her to death and so to spoyle his bloud to the ende for to remedie his infortune But when hée had taken in his hand the sword wherewith he wéened to flea her nature beganne to meddle and put in her selfe betwéene them and from this crueltie made him to condiscend to pitie and put awaye his sword and let the sheading of her blood that was come of his owne bloud the which shoulde come vnto the succession of his crowne which his auncient progenitours had ordayned before c. For to saye the veritie this king Acrisius from thence foorth tooke his rest crossed with many sighes and could not be assured of himselfe His daughter grewe and became a woman shée was passing fayre and right comely Many kings and great earthly Lordes desired to haue her in mariage and would haue endowed her with noble Crownes But the king Acrisius refused all them that required her and imagined that his daughter for her great beautie might be taken awaye and rauished by which she might by aduenture haue a sonne that should turne him vnto a stone And to the ende to eschewe this perill and daunger he thought that hée would make a Tower the strongest in the world and that in the same Tower shoulde his daughter Danaes be closed and shut during her life without coming of any man to her for he was so ielous of her that he beléeued her not well when he sawe her In the ende 〈◊〉 sent for workemen and forgers of steele and of copper from all parties and brought them vnto a strong place 〈◊〉 enuyroned with waters where was no entrie but in one place When hée hadde brought thither all his workemen hée sayd to them that hée woulde haue a Tower made all of copper with a gate seuerall from the Tower to put in foure and twentie men of armes for to kéepe the Tower if it were néede The workemen bargayned with the king Acrisius to make the Tower and the gate and sette on hand to the worke the Tower was made in processe of time and then when all was achieued Acrisius brought thither his daughter without letting her knowe his intencion And as soone as she was in the Tower he sayd to her My only daughter it is come vnto my knowledge that in searching thy prosperitie to my god Belus I haue bin aduertised that of thée shall come a sonne which shall conuert and turne me into a stone Thou knowest that euery man naturally coueteth and desireth safely to liue in his life I loue thée passing well and nothing in the worlde so much excepting my life But certaine my life toucheth mee more néere to my heart then thy loue wherefore I séeking and requiring the remedies agaynst my predestinate infortune would neuer giue thée in marriage to any man that hath requyred or desired thée Also to the ende that generation discend not of thy bodie and that thou shouldest haue no knowledge of man during my life I haue made to bée framed this tower of copper and will that thou be closed and shut therein and that no man sée thée I pray thée my daughter accord thée vnto my will and desire and take patience in this place for to passe thy time I will prouide to accompanie thée with manie noble virgins that shall giue
they of Thebes had alwaye so good fortune that in the ende they of Thellipolye yéelded them in all poyntes to the will of king Creon and thus when the king of Thebes had ouercome and subdued the citie he returned vnto his countrey with great ioy c. When Amphitrion sawe that their enimies were ouercome and that there was no more perill he had great desire to go sée his wife Alcumena and for to hast him the more sooner to bee with her he departed from the hoste with leaue of the king accompanyed with an Esquire onely When king Iupiter sawe Amphitrion so departe vpon his waye he began to thinke and aduise him of a great subtilty for to come to his intent And he departed from the hoste with Ganimedes onely and as soone as hée was in the fielde on the waye they two being togither Iupiter entred into conference with Ganimedes and sayd to him Ganimedes I haue great affiance in you and more then in any man that liueth wherefore I will tell you priuily a thing secrete which I shall accomplish as I hope And ye must holde and kéepe it secret Truth it is that I am amorous terribly of dame Alcumena By no meane in the world I maye yet forget her nor put her from my desire She knoweth not the payne that for her loue aboundeth in me for I neuer was so hardie to discouer to her my case nor neuer durst shewe it to her for as much as I knowe her wise chaste and vertuous This considered thinking on this thing I féele and finde me full of troubles and confesse my follye for I am in a manner in dispayre nowe inasmuch as I had supposed to haue founde the like answere of loue in Alcumena But the sodaine departing of Amphitrion yet giueth me in a maner an hope for at the time that I sawe him departe from the hoste for to go sée his wife accompanyed with his Esquire I imagined that in all haste I would go vnto Arciancie by a more néere and shorter waye For I know the passage long since and that I would transfigure my selfe into the forme of Amphitrion and you into the forme of his Esquire for to go vnto Alcumena and to make her vnderstande that I were Amphitrion Ganimedes vpon this intention and purpose I am come on the way to go thither with you we must néedes win vpon Amphitrion this waye a night and daye and therefore lette vs go now merylye Mée thinketh that loue shall helpe me and when Alcumena shall sée me transformed into the shape of Amphitriō and you as his Esquire shée shal not be so wise to perceiue mine enchauntment Ganimedes hearkened right diligently to the wil and purpose of Iupiter and promised that he wold imploy him in this affaire as much as in him was possible and so they rode with good will and great desire the readiest way and in riding and going Iupiter went about his enchauntments and sped him so that he arriued in an euening at the Castell of Arciancie When he was there arriued he transfigured himselfe and Ganimedes in such wise as he had before purposed and then at the same houre that Alcumena slept and that each man was a bed they came to the Castell and so knocked at the gate that they awooke the porter The porter came to the windowe and looked downe beneath and sawe Iupiter and Ganimedes by the moon light him thought and séemed that it was Amphitrion and his esquire wherfore he opened the gate and receyued him in such wise as he would haue done his Lord Amphitrion After he brought him vnto the doore of the chamber wher Alcumena slept and awooke her saying that her lord was come After he returned to kéepe the gate by commaundement of Iupiter and Alcumena opened her Chamber vnto Iupiter which entered in with great ioy and at the entrie into this chamber Iupiter and Alcumena tooke each other in armes and kissed Alcumena thinking that it had béen Amphrition and when they were so beclipt eache in others armes Alcumena demaunded him from whence he came Iupiter answered and sayde he came from Thellepolys and that after the giuing ouer of the towne yéelding of their enemies he departed from the host for the loue of her accompanied onely with his esquier to come hastily to her Then Alcumena was wel content at the wordes of Iupiter and asked him if hee would eate or drinke Iupiter answered that he would nothing but go to bed with her What shall I say more hee lay with her and had that he desired the King Iupiter had neuer so great ioy in himselfe And going to bedward he had Ganimedes that he should go to the Chamber doore and abide there without And so Ganimedes departed from the Chamber and Iupiter approched to Alcumena with great loue and so cōplaised her in loue as much as his power might extend In this wise and by this fashion came Iupiter vnto the secrets and ioy of loue so that to acquaynt himselfe with this lady him séemed expedient for to enchant all them that dwell in the place And then he slept with Alcumena and after he arose and came to Ganimedes which kept the watch at the doore and tolde him that for to do this matter secretly he must enchant all them of that place in such wise that they should not awake vntill the comming of Amphitrion And he willed that he should go to the gate to waite if Amphitrion came And if it happen he said that he came by the day light I shall deliuer to you a powder that ye shall cast in the ayre agaynst him and this powder hath such vertue that it shall kéepe Amphitrion from approching this place as long as the day endureth And then when it is night and he knocke at the gate ye shall come to me and wee will open the gate and bring him to his wife and after that we will returne from hence The King Iupiter with these wordes wrought in his science and made his charmes and sorceries in such wise that all they that were in the place might not awake without a remedie agaynst his inchantment When hee had so done hee transformed Ganimedes into the likenesse of a Porter and appoynted him to kéepe the gate After hee returned into the Chamber of Alcumena and shut fast the windowes that no light might come in And after he went to bed and lay with the Ladie and awooke her and there spent all the residue of the night and all the day following taking his pleasure with her so long that he begate on her a right fayre sonne conceyued vnder the raigne of the best constellation of heauen In the ende when king Iupiter had béene with her a night and a day about the houre when the Sunne goeth downe into the West and that him séemed that Amphitrion should come he made by his science Alcumena for to sléepe After he rose vp and made himselfe in the form of
Of this euill aduenture Thebes was right hastily aduertised Megara was gone vp vpon one of the high towers of the pallace and sawe and beheld the battaile and from that place she saw them of Thebes slaine without remedie and also turne their backs The sight of the beating downe of the king her father and the view of the slaughter of other made her to crie out and said Fortune Fortune what mischiefe is héere where is Hercules Alas where hast thou brought him Alas that he is not héere to defend the countrey of his natiuitie and for to kéepe his wife farre from annoy and for to put his hand and shoulders for to beare the great acts and deedes of this battaile When shee had saide this she fell in a swoune and so lay a great while Neuerthelesse the king Andromeda and Lincus followed so hastily them of Thebes that they entred the Citie with them And for as much as the Thebans were without head and put out of aray and that Amphitrion had so many wounds vpon him that all the members failed at this worke the vnhappie Lincus and Andromeda tooke the Citie and flewe all them that might beare armes except Amphitrion whome they found not in the heate After they went vp into the pallace and there they found Megara and Amphitrion in great desolation with many ladies and gentlewomen As soone then as Lincus had espied Megara she was so faire and pleasant that he became amorous of her and came to her and sayd Ladie wéepe no more Hercules the bastard sonne of Iupiter is gone into hell and there he is dead Ye haue béene wife of a man gotten in adulterie from henceforth ye shall be fellow and wife of a man legitimate and borne in lawfull mariage for I will wed you and will do you more good and pleasure then euer yee had Megara answered false traytour wéenest thou that I be so foolish as to giue fayth and credite to the words of the homicide of my father and to the enemie of my lord Hercules Knowe thou that I am his wife and that I will neuer haue other husband but him he is no bastard but sonne of my Lorde Amphitrion and the most noble man that is in all the world Ladie aunswered Lincus I am king of this Citie ye be now at my commaundement will ye or will ye not I shall do my will with you but I will put it in respite and in my sufferance till to morrowe After these wordes Lincus sent Megara into a Tower and made her to bée kept there After he sent Philotes into a lowe prison and finding there in bondage and miserie Priamus the sonne of king Laomedon he had pitie of him and sent him againe to Troy where hée was after receyued with great ioy of the Troyans c. CHAP. VIII ¶ How Hercules entered into Thebes in vnknowne habite and how he put to death the Giant Lincus and his complices and his wife Megara c. BY the sword of Lincus then and of Andromeda Thebes was troubled dolorously Lincus exercised there many tyrannies and wickednesses In this misfortune Andromeda departed and went to do his businesse leauing there Lincus with foure hundred men of warre for to kéepe the citie and to hold it in his obeysance Thus was taken vengeance of the Centaures In the time of this reuenge the Quéene Iuno came into Thebes and had great ioy when shee found it in desolation and full of widowes and orphelins and in the enemyes handes of Hercules then were great the teares and lamentations of Megara Amphitrion was nigh her who vnderstoode all her gréefes and comforted her Lincus came many tymes vnto her into the prison and requested her swéetly to haue her loue and that in the fayrest maner he could Yet his swéete and fayre wordes auayled not for hée found her constant and firme and alway kéeping inviolable her chastitie and gaue him many vertuous aunsweres whereof foloweth one which was the last and this Lincus thou hast now thy hand strong and hast conquered Thebes Fortune and ill hap hath giuen vnto thée the tyranny whereby thou hast enriched thy selfe with vices Thou hast furthermore the power for to commit on mée murther but thy power nor thy sinnes be not so strong nor of such might for to make my vertue to bow in two folde Megara alway bewailed Hercules she lamented so much on a day that shee became all rauished and in a traunce And that same day Hercules that was departed from Thessalonica a good while before made so his iourneys that hée entred into the realme of Thebes accompanied with many noble men And entring into these coasts hée found the countrey all destroyed And he had not gone farre when it was tolde him how Lincus was Lord of Thebes and how he had slaine in battaile the king Creon and had imprisoned Megara c. When Hercules had receyued these tydings he was replenished with great anger and sayd that he would auenge him if he might Then he clad him aboue his armors with a mantle and disguised himselfe as much as he might when he had so done he left there his fellowes and entred himselfe into Thebes vnknowne and passed through the gate and bare him so well that the Porters let him passe foorth and in likewise entred into the Pallace At the entry of the Pallace a souldiour came to Hercules and demaunded of him what he sought there Hercules cast away his mantel a farre and took his sword that was strong and without any worde hee gaue so great a stroke to the souldiour that was not armed that he cleft his head from the highest part downe to the ground Many other souldiours that were there séeing the stroke cried and béeing afrayed ran to their axes and clubs and some were of them that put forth themselues for to take Hercules but Hercules smote off their heads and beat them downe and then began to arise a great vprore and so great a noyse that Lincus heard it And thinking it had béene his porters that quarrelled hée came running downe all vnarmed for to make peace As soone as Hercules perceyued and saw him comming out of the hall he drew vnto him with his sword readie drawne in his hand crying Hercules Hercules and smote him so that he cut off the right arme and with the stroke he fell downe to the ground And after he smote vpon one and other that had no helmes on their heades nor habergions on theyr backes and then they knewe that it was Hercules Hée slew them so thicke that with the bloud that ranne downe was made a right great rushing as if it had béene a riuer Among these things the gentlewomen of Megara issued out of the pallace and went into the stréetes crying with high and cleere voyce that Hercules was come againe and that hee had slaine Lincus With these cryes all the Citie was mooued the good men olde and yong the widowes wiues and maides ranne
mortall that Theseus and Affer slewe the king of Cothulie beate downe his banners his recognisances and his Cotuliens and smote so sore with the Iron vpon theyr bodies that they went backe and were constrained to crie after helpe The king of Getulie séeing this euill aduenture came vnto the reskew and found the Cothulians all discomforted At his comming the crye the noyse the tempest and strokes beganne to renew many a valiant act and manie a prowesse was shewes there Many shewed their vertue and strength and manie were slaine there Theseus did there maruailes but alway the Getulians helde them togither and fought against Theseus by the space of thrée houres and lost but few of their people vnto the time that Hercules brought them of the battel of king Antheon to discomfiture made them to flie to saue themselues with the Getulians that then discouraged themselues in such wise that after they had séene the battayle of king Antheon disranked and broken they might not lift vp their armes to defend them but were slayne by little and little and finally they were brought to so straight limits and boundes that they wist not where to saue them And then they fled out of the place dispersed by the fieldes and champaines without leaders guides or captaines And then Hercules put himselfe forth in the prease al before among them that fled first of the Libians so that he came to the gate of the cittie with them and there he began to smite so vnmeasurably that he put to death the Lybians flying thither and the porters and them that would resist him Also he made the Egiptians to enter into the town And Antheon séeing fortune against him in al points fled into his pallace not accompanied as a king but went at large in to the fields by the conduct of foure moores only that brought him into Mauritania after CHAP. XIII ¶ How Hercules fought againe against king Antheon and put him vnto the death BY this maner Hercules and the Egiptians entred into Lybie and subdued it by force of armes And Antheon was fled into Mauritania where he assembled new folke hastily They of Libie yéelded them al to the mercy of Hercules When Hercules had thus daunted them of Lybye and theyr neighbours séeing Antheon he made Affer king and named it after him Affrique and sayd that he fought not for his singular proffit couetousnes but for lyberalytie and for to enhaunce vertue O most valiant and noble Hercules there was neuer man borne among the paynims more liberall more noble nor more vertuous He would not be king of all the world he was liberall and imployed his conquest right well and wisely and gaue all gis gifts aduisedly When he had made Affer king he enquired what lawes they held and established among them the Sacrament of mariage For at that time the women were there all commune and when it happened that the women hadde children they gaue them to the men after their Phisiognomies and thus telleth Aristotle in his politikes Besides this sacrament Hercules ordeyned vnto the Affricans that they should hold the lawes of Gréece and by right wise and politique gouernment made the Affricans lyue reasonably and vertuously And aboue all other things he made them haue the order of mariage in great reuerence When Hercules had ordeined all this tydings came to him that Antheon was come againe to chase him with manye Moores that followed him Then he returned toward Antheon and the Moryans and there smote them downe with his club so deadly that he made it red with theyr bloud and slewe them all and put them to flight so cruelly that Antheon abode alone against Hercules and fought against him body to body by great strength and gaue him many strokes hard to beare But Hercules gaue to him so many and so large strokes that the Giant wist not how to saue him and wéened to haue fled But Hercules that ranne as swiftly as an horse ranne after him and embraced him in his armes with all his might and lifted him vppe into the ayer and bare him ouer the hoste of the Maurytanes And when hée came nighe vnto them hée cast him downe dispiteouslye to the earth that all to brused and forfrushed Antheon abode there dead And his death turned vnto the Moores so great abashement that they lost all theyr strength and puissaunce and were slayne by great excesse without remedy they lost there the king Antheō the king of Mauritane the king of Tingie and many other kings and all the honourable of the battaile for in the end they all fled in which flight was taken and subdued to the segnorie of Affrique the Citie of Mauritans CHAP. XIIII ¶ How Hercules and Theseus fought togither agaynst the two Damosels of Scythie c. IN remembrance of this victorie Hercules did make in the field a statue or image of a man sléeping in the place where he had put to death Antheon and there vnder hée did burie the bodie of Antheon And anon as the image which was made of the bone of an Elephant was set vp there the necke of the the image began to sound like as it had bene a man sléeping wherefore the Moores had afterward the sepulchre in great reuerence and worshipped the idoll After this statue thus accomplished by Hercules he went by Tingie and Ampeloste and by many other Countries and conquered all the countrey that now is called Affrique and gaue all to Affer and Affer returned into Libie and there he found Echée his wife dead by a grieuous sicknes wherfore he tooke made sorrow so great that it was maruell Then to forget this sorow he tooke leaue of king Affer and the Egyptians and had thought to haue departed thence but as he was in taking leaue a damosell strangely arayed came vnto him and said Lord of Libie the Quéene of Scythie Ladies of Egypt of Cappadocie and of Asie haue sent me vnto you which ladies haue conquered the said contries in taking vengeance of the misfortune of their husbands now late dead and haue abandoned their Countrey because of the great outrage that Vexores King of Egypt made in Scythie And as asmuch as ye be of the linage of the Egyptians they send to you that ye submit you vnto their obeysance for to do with you that that shall please them or else that ye come against them in battaile for to eschew the effusion of blood And they let you know that they haue good right to subdue you and that if there be among you two knights that agaynst two of them will do feates of armes to trie their liues they will deliuer to you two Ladyes in place conuenable vpon condition that if the Ladyes vanquish and ouercome you yee shall bée holden as vanquished and bée a◠their commaundement and if your men ouercome the Ladyes they shall bée reputed as ouercome and shall bée subiect vnto you Hercules hearing this gréeting and
sayd to him that Achelous demaunded of him if he would giue him his daughter and that if he would not giue her to him at this time he would molest and gréeue his countrey and would make him warre At this message Oeneus was troubled and answered the messenger that on the morrow he would giue him an answere All that day Oeneus was pensiue and sorry and abode alone and for to passe his melancholy he came to Hercules When Hercules sawe him so pensiue he adiured him in earnest wise that he should tell him the cause of his pensiuenes who tolde it him and sayde Lord Hercules since it pleaseth you to know of mine anoiance and gréefe I will anon tell you the cause There is hereby a king my neighboure named Achelous great and fierce and proude which many times hath required to haue to his wife Deyanira my daughter I haue not béene in will to accord the mariage for asmuch as I knowe this king a man of right euill life And for this cause I haue had many menaces of him and also this day his messenger is yet come againe to me and hath sayde to mée that if I giue him not my daughter at this time he will make mée war Certes Hercules if ye ye sée me pensiue it commeth to me by this occasion for I haue not yet giuen him his aunswere but I must giue it him to morrow Neuerthelesse I haue concluded in my selfe that I will not giue vnto him my daughter And now when I sée verily that by the refuse of my daughter it must néedes be that the war be open betwéene the aforesayde king Achelous and me know well that I am displeased for warre is the eternall desolation of the countrey perdition and wast of the people and of goods Sir said Hercules it is néedefull vnto a man that he take and beare all that fortune will As ye say warre is not increasing of people but dimunition yet by that extremitie it behooueth to passe It is expedient that a man reioyce in his right Right comforteth the courage of a man and the courage of a man comforted bringeth him often times to glorious victorie A brute beast disgarnished of reasonable wit fighteth for his hole and nest with his clawes with féete with his téeth and with his bill What shall a man sensible and endowed with wit and reason do with any assault and namely in his owne land and territorie Nature willeth and instructeth that where corporall force faileth vigour and vertue of courage worketh and that they fight for their countrey Take courage then in your right and say your intent vnto your enemies ye haue receiued mée worshipfully in my receiuing these tydings that be come I wil help you if it be neede and I suppose if Achelous assaile you he shall repent him With these words the king Oeneus comforted himselfe greatly and the day drewe ouer On the morrow Oeneus called the messenger of Achelous and said to him that he should come no more to demaund his daughter and that he was not minded to giue her to his maister and furthermore if he mooued warre against him for this cause hee had intention to defende himselfe vnto the death of the last man of his people The messenger returned with these words and tolde them to Achelous and all that hée found with him Achelous was euill content with king Oeneus and as hee that was ouermuch smitten with the loue of Deyanira beganne to assemble his men of armes in intention to make warre on king Oeneus and to take from him his Daughter Hercules was then in Calcedonie and often times he was with Deyanira in gracious conferences He found her so well adressed in all honest maners that all day he was the most part with her and in the night he did nought but dreame and thinke on her howbeit he sayd nothing to her that touched his amorous desires willing first to shewe there his power in armes It happened on a day he opened a window that was by the garden of Deyanira and casting his eyes downe he sawe Deyaninira that sate vppon a gréene place accompanied with many Ladyes and Gentlewomen Then hee set all his minde to contemplate the excessiue beautie of her After he desired her and in coueting and desiring said O Deyanira thou that hast not the prerogatiue to know the hearts and the thoughts of men if I should say to thée the tenth part of the loue and desire I haue to thée thou mightest not beléeue it I haue gone many a countrey and séene mannie a Realme and many a treasure I haue desired many a thing But of all for to come to my wished blisse I was neuer in so great thought as I am for to get thy grace The same houre that Hercules spake by himselfe Deyanira was not idle shee hadde Hercules in her minde and remembrance in hir heart then being rich in the points of loue sowen betwéene variations of hope and despayre was esprysed in all her veynes with the heate of that fire that burneth amorous hearts This fire burning was strong and very hard to quench or to couer the right pearcing sparkle Shée lay downe then vpon the grasse and beganne to say in her minde Alas Hercules what shall Deyanira do she may not come to attaine vnto your loue I was wont not long since not to daigne to behold a man and then said that neither Prince nor King should haue my loue Nowe I am all of another nature and desire no other thing but that I might bee your wife I haue supposed to haue remained and continued a stable virgin and I only was disdainer of men contrary to the requests and admonitions of the ladies these be nowe farre other tydings with these words she ceased a little and beganne to thinke on many other things At this point as she thought on Hercules and Hercules on her tydings came thither that Achelous was comming for to besiege the Citie by land and by sea and that he was very neare by For these tydings arose in the pallace a great murmuring that came to the eares of Hercules and of Deyanira their spirits were trauersed in such fashion that Hercules left to behold Deyanira and the damosell left to thinke on Hercules and both two went vnto the king Oeneus Anon as Hercules came vnto the king and that the King saw him he went against him and said to him that his enemies were verye neare the Citie Hercules answered ioyously that it behooueth to go feast them and willed that he put his people in armes At this answere of Hercules the king did sounde to armes and with this sound all Calcedonie was mooued and each man made him readie Hercules and his Gréekes were ready in a little space The Calcedonians assembled by great companies in the pallace When they were assembled the king and Hercules brought them into the field and Hercules put them in order that done he did
then he had done before whereof the cries arose so high there that Hercules then sighting on another side heard the cry and then hee ran thither at all aduenture And anon as he spied Cacus hee went before him and brake the prease and smote downe so sore that Cacus knew Hercules but hee durst not abide him but fled againe with euill hap And then the Greeks made a cry and a ioyfull noyse so that all the Castiliens fledde some heere and some there to the great hurt and losse of Cacus For of all his people there was left no more but 50 which saued theÌ„selues vpon the mount of Monchayo which stoode thereby But that was with great effusion of bloud of them of Castile that thought to haue mounted vp with the other that it séemed that there had been a great spring of bloud that the caues in the valley were replenished with bloud howbeit Cacus for to flie wel saued him selfe and fiftie of his men vppon the mountaines as the chronicles of Spaine rehearse When he was aboue and in sure peace he returned and looked downe to the foot of the hill and he saw there so many Castiliens that without number were dead or in daunger for to die hee hadde great sorrowe then at his heart not for pitie but for despite and for the danger that he sawe ready whereby hee must passe Anon after he sawe from farre in the champaigne and each quarter and place there all couered with them of his part and of their bloud Also he saw them that fled taken and brought to the handes of the other These things considered the desolation of his dominion and the punishment of his tyranny was to him euident he thoght then that Hercules would soone conquere all the country For they obeied him for his tyranny and not for naturall loue This notwithstanding he dispaired not albeit that he saw all the puissance of his men destroied by the clubbe of Hercules and knewe that hee might no more reigne in that countrey for all were slaine in the battaile and then hee returned vnto his Science And thus as sorrowfull as he was he entered into a house that he had there But first appointed twelue of his men to keepe the passage of this mount which was so straite and narrowe that there might go vp but one man at once When then Hercules and his men had put to death all their enemies Hercules began to assaile the rocke and to mount and go vppon the degrees or staires but then sodainly they that kept the passe cast vppon him great stones in so great aboundance that of force hee was constrained to descend When Hercules sawe that hee must withdraw him he obeied fortune but notwithstanding he made there a vowe that hee would neuer depart from the foot of the rocke vnto the time that he had constrained Cacus to descend rome downe by famine or otherwise This vow made Hercules came vnto the foote of the hil where battell and slaughter had been and made the place to bee made cleane and purged of the dead bodies and of the bloud of them that there lay dead After hee did make his tent of dewes and leaues and his bed of freshe grasse and commaunded that each man shoulde lodge there At that time the night came and the day fayled the Greeks were weary for that they had all day laboured in armes and woulde faine haue rest and made good cheere with that they had And after that they had ordeined and set their watche aswel for to keepe the coast as for to keepe the rocke that Cacus should not come downe they layd them downe vpon the grasse in such wise as they were accustomed when they were in war and so slept and passed that night On the morrow Hercules parted the hoast in twaine and sent Hispan with one of them into Arragon and Nauarre and hee abode there with the other Hispan in the name of Hercules was ioyfully receiued of the Nauarroys and of the Arragonoys And they made to him all obeysance acknowledging Hercules to be their Lord and the most vertuous prince that was in the West When Hispan had all subdued as is said hee returned vnto Hercules Hercules lay yet still before Monchaio and there held Cacus in such subiection that he might not issue Cacus and his folke were then in great want of vittaile and they wist not what to eate nor to drinke They deferred as long as they might hoping that Hercules woulde bée weary to be there so long But in the end when their vittaile failed and they saw that they muâ—t néeds aduenture themselues to come downe Cacus by his science made certaine secret things to go downe into their stomackes and after put thereto the fire and taught all the other to do so and then sodainly as they felt the fire issue out of their mouthes and the fume and smoke in such aboundance that it seemed all on a light fire then by the counsaile of Cacus they aduentured themselues to descend downe in running and casting fire and fume so impetously that Hercules and the Greeks thought that it had been a tempest of lightning of the heauen and had burnt the mountaine so they made him place for it was a thing for to make men sore abashed and thus they escaped the daunger of Hercules at that time For during all that day the rocke was full of smoke and fume that Cacus had made and the smoke was so material that it séemed darknes When Cacus and his folk were thus escaped and passed the hoste of Hercules and of the Greekes Hercules was then the most wise clerk that was in the world and all his pastimes hee emploied in study hee tooke his bookes and began to muse howe and by what reason hée was descended from the rocke he read and turned many leaues but all thing well considered hee found not that this fume came of naturall thinges wherof he had great maruel Then he sent for Athlas that alway was lodged behinde the hoste for to be solitary When Athlas was come he shewed him the smoke and fume that yet dured Then he told of the lightning that was passed by the hoste and demaunded of him his opinion Athlas knew incontinent the fume and answered to Hercules Certes my sonne thou art more sharpe in science then I for mine age may not attaine to so high things as thy youth Howbeit forasmuch as I know the growing of this thing long time past I will tell thee that I shal say thou shalt find true as I suppose Thou shalt vnderstaÌ„d that this fume is a thing artificiall and made by the craft of Vulcan that was father of Cacus which was an excellent maister in this science and was the inuenter thereof he made certaine mountaines in Cicille to burne and shall alway continually burne vnto the end of the worlde Cacus which can the arte and craft of his father hath made this fume and
bloud of their brethren and for to haue worshippe of the battell And they sayde that they were infortunate séeing they might not ouercome one man alone nor match him In fighting they helped and comforted ech other and had all good courage But what profited them the great number of brethren and what auailed them their couragious strokes when they were approching their death Hercules was alway Hercules he reioiced much in the plentie of his enemies hee comforted himselfe in fortune fortune helped him hee did marueiles on all sides well could he fight and well defended he himselfe all that hee did was well done all that other did and indeuoured to do was nought worth notwithstanding that they were mighty and hardy But the lucke and good hap of Hercules was not to bee broken ne his clubbe coulde not bee foyled but hee triumphed and more was his puissance to susteine the furies of his aduersaries then their might was to charge him with their strokes O marueilous strength and might of a man His puissance was not of a man but of an elephant his skin of the lion séemed that it had bene tempered with quicke and hard stéele his body séemed more constant against the cutting swordes of all his ill willers then is an anuill against the strokes of many hammers or great sledges There was no stroke of his enemie that grieued him he tooke great pleasure in the battell séeing himselfe among so many giants He stil greatly reioyced and there was nothing grieuing him but the declining of the day which began to faile At this houre when the Sun withheld her rayes and turned into the West Hercules would make an end and spéede his battell The giants began to cease for to smite for from the morning vnto the euening they had fought without any ceasing and Hercules behaued himselfe in such wise smiting vppon one and other being about him harde and sharpely that it befell so that of some hée ouerthrew and brake helmets and heads and of other he brake armes and sides maruellously and gaue so many great strokes that finally he beat downe and to bruised them all except Nestor which fled away when he saw the discomfiture And therein did he wisely for all his brethren were there slaine by the hand of Hercules c. When they of Cremona sawe their Lordes dead they had soone made an end of their weeping and sorrowe for they had béene to them hard and troublesome At the end of this battell they assembled to councell when they sawe that Hercules had woonne the battaile and concluded together that they would yéeld themselues to Hercules and put themselues to his mercy With this conclusion they issued out of the gates in a great number and came vnto Hercules which was the conquerour of his enemies first they knéeled before him downe to the ground secondly they prayed and required of him mercy and thirdly they surrendered vnto him their city and their goods and sayd to him they woulde holde him for their lord during their liues Hercules that was pitifull and gentle vnto them that were méeke and humbled themselues receiued the Cremonians into his grace and made them to rise stand vp and after sent for them of his hoste When they were come he brought them into Cremona where great ioy was made vnto them for they were glad of the death of the giants And there was no man nor woman nor childe that thanked not the gods By this maner was Hercules king of Cremona and inriched with a new title of victory The first night that he entred into the city he rested him and his people and then were they well refreshed and right well feasted and serued with vitaile On the morrow he did cause to bring into the citie the bodies of the giants that were dead and did bury them worshipfully And after he founded vpon them a very great tower and high and vpon the tower he set xi images or statues of metall after the fashion of the giants that he had slaine in remembrance of his victorie After the edification of this tower Hercules left in Cremona folke for to gouerne them and departed thence for to goe further forth into the countrey He studied alway and was neuer idle he studied so much that he could make the fire artificiall aswell as Cacus and founde the remedies against the same What by armes and by his science he gate a very great glory and praising in Italie He went into many places and ouer all where he came or went men did him honour and reuerence What shall I make long processe with great good aduenture he went so farre that he came to a citie standing nigh the mount Auentin where reigned a king named Euander which receiued him solemnly It is to be noted that when Cacus fled from Monchayo as is sayd vnto this mount hée came into Italie all displeasant to haue lost his seignorie Then hee gaue leaue to depart from him to all his seruants and all despaired alone he went to the mount Auentin in an euening where he was constrained to withdraw himselfe for he doubted much Hercules When he was come aboue on this hill he found there a great caue and there he went in without supper and then he began to be discomforted greatly bitterly said Alas now am I exiled banished out of all my seignories lordships Now haue I no succour nor comfort of person I dare not name me king where I was wont by my name to make kings to trēble alas al is turned become vpside down I haue nothing to eat nor wote not where to lodge vnlesse it be with the beasts O poore king where so any man so vnhappy as I I am so infortunate and vnhappie that I dare not be séene nor knowen With these wordes he layd him downe vpon the bare ground and layed a stone vnder his head and with great paine and griefe fell asléepe which dured not long for his veines were strongly stirred his heart was not quiet and his body was right euilly susteined Anon he awoke went out of the caue for to looke if it were nigh day for the night troubled him and was to him too long But when he was come into the ayre he saw no day appeare nor starres nor moone shine but he found it all darke cloudy and thicke and saw all the region of the aire couered with clouds whereat he was greatly vexed and grieued Then he went into the caue againe not into the déepest but at the mouth thereof and there sorrowful and pensiue abode without any more sléeping till it was day When the day appeared Cacus issued out of the caue and went vp vnto the top of the hill and beganne to beholde and sée the countrey about The countrey séemed to him good and faire for to liue there After great pensiuenes and many thoughts he concluded in himselfe that he would abide there vnto the time that his fortune ceased
speake of he did so much that he came vnto his realme of Lycie into his pallace where he was receiued with great ioy of the inhabitantes and also of the neighbours And there he abode with the faire Yo le whom he loued aboue all temporall goodes CHAP. XXX ¶ How Deianira was full of sorrowe forasmuch as Hercules loued Yo le c. THeseus then after the return of Hercules seeing that he would abide there and that there was no mention that in all the world was any monster nor tyrant tooke leaue of his fellow Hercules of Yo le of Phylotes and of other went to Athens and to Thebes Likewise the Gréekes tooke leaue and euery man returned into his countrey and to his house recounting and telling in all the places where they went the great aduentures and the glorious workes of Hercules Then the renowme that runneth and flieth by realmes and Empires as swiftly as the wind so swiftly came vnto Iconie whereas Deianira soiourned and it was said to Deianira that Hercules was returned from Spaine with great glory and triumph and that hee was descended into Lycia Dame Deianira for this renowme was glad and all rauished with a great and singular pleasure and concluded that shee woulde go vnto him Yet she was abashed for that he hadde not signified to her his comming and that hee had not sent for her sore pensiue and doubting that she should be fallen out of the grace of Hercules She made ready hir cōpany and in right noble estate she departed from Iconie on a day for to go into Lycia In processe of time shee came nigh vnto Licia Then she tarried there for to attire and array her in the best and the most fairest wise shée could or might and called her squire named Lycas and commaunded him that hee shoulde go into Licia and signifie to Hercules her comming At the commaundement of Deianira Lycas went forthwith into the Citie and that happened right at the gate he encountered and mette a man of his acquaintance a squire of Hercules Lycas and the squire gréeted and saluted eche other After this Lycas asked of the squire and demaunded him where the king was and if he were in his pallace yea verily said the squire he is there I wote well and passeth the time with his Lady Yo le the most beautifull and out of measure most replendissant Lady that is in all the world as great as it is Eche man alloweth her and praiseth her a thousand times more thē Deianira Hercules hath her in so much grace that continually they be togither And whatsoeuer the Lady doth it is acceptable vnto Hercules and there is no man that can say or tel the great loue that they haue togither Lycas hearing these tidinges of the squire took leaue of him and made semblance to haue let fall or left behinde him some of his gemmes or iewels forasmuch as he was of opinion in himselfe that it was good that he hadde aduertised her for his estate Pensiue and simple he came to Deianira where as she was attyring her selfe pretiously and said to her Madame what doe ye here Wherefore answered Deianira Therefore saide Lycas Why is there any thing said Deianira what tidinges Lycas answered hard tidings I haue heard say and tell of Hercules thinges full of such hardnesse that certes it is right greeuous to mee to say vnto you Howbeit since that ye become thus farre and that ye must needes know and vnderstand them I tell and say to you certainly that your Lord Hercules is in his pallace right ioyfully and that hee hath with him a Ladie faire by excellencie whom he loueth and much delighteth in aboue all thinges for her beautie which is so high and great that eche man maruaileth and say she is the most soueraigne in beautie that euer was séen with mans eie Beholde and aduise you well what ye will doe ere ye go any further this day it is needfull to abide and take councel and aduise At the hearing of these tidinges Deianira was passing angry and was all bespread with a right great sorrow in all her veines She beganne to quake and tremble Her faire haire that was finely dressed on her head shee all to tare it with her hands in so furious maner that she disatyred her and smote her self with her fist to great a stroke vpon her brest that she fell downe backward in a sowne The ladies and the gentlewomen that accompanied her shriked and cried dolorously and were sore mooued at seeing her bloud At length Deianira came to her selfe againe all pale and wanne and thinking on the sorrow that engendred in her and also on the sorrow that was comming to her she spake and said with a feeble lowe voice Poore Deianira what shalt thou doe or whither shalt thou go thou that findest thy selfe forsaken and put backe from the loue of thy lord Hercules Alas alas is it possible that the new comming of a lady may take away my husband The heart late ioyned to Deianira shal it be disioyned by the finding of a woman of folly shall she make the separation I hope verily it may not be For Hercules is noble of heart and loueth vertue and if hée abandon and giue me ouer he shal do against vertue and noblenesse I haue affiance in him that hee will be true to me Madame said Lycas yee faile nothing to say that Hercules is noble and ful of vertue for he hath emploied all his time in vertuous thinges howbeit he is a man and hath taken in loue this new woman for her beauty affie not you so much in his vertue least your confidence beguile and deceiue you know well that fortune entertaineth not long princes and princesses on the top aboue of her wheele there is none yet so high but that hee maketh them sometime lie beneath among them that suffer trouble Behold and see well what ye haue to doe If yee go vnto Hercules and he receiue you not as he hath béen accustomed that shall be to you a cause of despaire Men say that he loueth soueraignty this new lady It is apparant then that hee shall set but a little store by your comming and if ye go the Lady will be euill contente she hath renowm and euery man is glad to doe her pleasure There shal be no man so hardie to welcome you for the loue of her Go not thither then the peril is too great I councell you for the better that ye returne into Iconie and that ye heare this thing patiently in attending and abiding vntill that the fire and the fume of this lady be quenched For whereas Hercules is al another maner of man then the most part of men be so shal he leaue the loue of this lady a little and a little c. Deianira considering that Lycas councelled her truly beléeued well this councel and right sore weeping she returned into Iconie When she was in the house at
and helde his peace and spake not of a great while and so did all the other Then arose vppe on his féete Troylus the yoongest sonne of king Priamus and beganne to speake in this manner O noble men and hardy how be ye abashed for the wordes of this coward priest here Is it not the custome of Priestes for to dread the battailes by pusillanimitie and for to loue good chéere and pleasures to fill their bellies with good wines and with good meats who is he that beléeueth that any man may know the things to come vnlesse the gods do shew it him by reuelation It is but follie for to tarie vpon this or to beléeue such things If Helenus be afrayd let him go into the Temple and sing the diuine Seruice and let the other take reuenge of their iniuries by strength and force of armes O right deare father and lord wherefore art thou so troubled for these wordes send thy shippes into Gréece and thy knights wise and hardie that may make requitall to the Gréekes for their iniuries that they haue done vnto vs. All they that heard Troylus thus speake allowed him saying that hee had very well spoken And thus they finished their parlement and went to dinner After dinner the king Priamus called Paris and Deiphebus and commaunded them expresly that they should goe into the parties of Pannonie hastily to fetch and assemble knightes wise and hardie for to take with them to Gréece And then that same day Paris and Deiphebus departed from the citie of Troy for to performe and accomplish the will of their father The day following the king assembled to counsel al the citizens of the citie of Troy and sayd vnto them after this maner O my louing friendes and true citizens ye all doe know notoriously howe the Gréeks by their pride and insolencie haue done to vs great wrongs and innumerable dammages as it is very well knowen in the al whole world And ye know also how they holde Exione my sister in seruitude wherefore I liue in great sorrow and also ye be remembred howe I sent Anthenor into Gréece that hath nothing done wherefore my sorrowe is doubled And forasmuch as by yron hee cured the woundes insanable I haue purposed to sende Paris my sonne with men of armes and puissance into Gréece for to inuade and assaile our enemies by strength and for to do them great damages and for to assay if they might take any noble ladie of Gréece and to send her into the city and that by the commutation of her I might get againe my sister Exione And forsomuch as I will not begin this thing but that it may come to your knowledge first I pray you that you say to mee your aduise for without you I will not procéed further therein forasmuch as it toucheth you all as well as me When the king had thus finished his spéeches and that ech man held himselfe silent a great while then stood vp a knight named Pantheus that was the sonne of Deuphrobe the Phylosopher and sayde O right noble king as I am your true seruant and vassaile I will declare to you my aduice in this matter also truely as a vassaile and subiect is bound to counsell his lord Ye haue had wel in knowledge Deuphrobe the great Phylosopher my father that liued whole and sounde more then nine score and tenne yeres and was so wise in Phylosophy that he knew the science of things to come hereafter he sayd vnto me many times and affirmed for trueth that if Paris your sonne went into Gréece for to take any noble ladie by violence that this noble citie should be destroyed and burnt vnto ashes by the Gréeks and that ye and all yours should be slaine cruelly And therfore right sage and wise king pleaseth if your noblenesse to heare my wordes and beléeue that the wise men haue sayd and be perswaded in that thing that ye may not loose by if ye leaue it whereof great sorrowes may ensue if ye perseuere in opinion Wherefore wil ye séeke to intrap the good estates of your rest and put your tranquillitie vnder the dangerous aduentures of fortune Leaue this and disswade your selfe if it please you from this folly and finish and end your life in rest happily and suffer not Paris to goe into Gréece in Armes And if ye will algase send ye another then Paris At these wordes of Pantheus grewe and arose great murmuring of the hearers Some reprooued the prophesies of Deuphrobe the Philosopher and some helde it for mockerie and a fable and they were of the greatest number insomuch that by the consent of the more part Paris was appointed for to go into Gréece with men of armes and the parliament finished each man went home into his house and to his place When this conclusion was known of Cassandra daughter of king Priamus she began to make so great sorrow as if she had been foolish or out of her right mind began to cry on high saying Ha ha right noble Citie of Troy what Faierie hath mooued thee to bee brought to such perils for which thou shalt in short times be beaten downe and thy high Towers be ouerthrown destroied vnto the ground Ha ha queene Hecuba for what sinne hast thou deserued the death of thy children which shal be cruell and horrible wherefore with holdest not thou Paris from going into Gréece which shal be cause of this euill aduenture And when she had so cried she went vnto her father the king and with weeping drowned in teares praied him that he woulde be perswaded for to leaue off his enterprise saying that she wist by her science the great euils and harmes that were comming by this meane But neither for the disswasions of Hector neither admonition nor warning of Cassandra the king woulde not change his purpose nor for Helenus his son nor Pantheus c. CHAP. III. ¶ Howe Paris and Deyphebus Eneas Anthenor and Polidamus were sent into Greece and howe they rauished Helene out of the temple of Venus with manie prisoners and richesse and brought them to Troy where Paris espoused the said Helene AT the entry of the moneth of May when the earth is attyred and adorned with diuers sloures Paris and Deiphebus returned from Panonie and brought with them thrée thousand knightes right hardy and wise Then they made readie two and twentie great shippes and charged and laide in them all that was conuenient for them Then the king Priamus called Eneas Anthenor and Polidamas that was the sonne of Anthenor and praied them and commaunded that they shoulde go into Greece with Paris and Deyphebus and they offered themselues to go with a good will And when they were all ready and assembled for to go into their shippes the king Priamus spake to them in this maner It needeth not to vse many wordes for yee knowe well enough for what cause I send you into Greece and howe well that I haue
was so hurt that the truncheon of her speare abode within his bodie wherefore the crie arose greatly among the Greekes and they ranne vpon Penthesilea with great strength and brake the lase of her helme and then Pirrhus that in his great furie tooke none heede to his wound set not thereby that hee had the truncheon in his body but assailed strongly Penthesilea that had then her helme broken and shee weend to haue smitten him but Pirrhus raught her first gaue her so great a stroke with his sworde that hee cutte her arme off by the body whereof the saide Penthesilea fell downe dead to the earth and Pirrhus that was not yet content smote the body and cut it in two peeces and anon for the great effusion of bloud that ran from his wound he fell downe as dead among his people and they tooke him vp layed him vpon his shield and bare him into his tent Then the maidens of Penthesilea for to reuenge the death of their Quéene smote in among the Mirmidones by great furie and slew many and hurt but it profited but little to the Troyans as they that were but a few against a great multitude of Gréeks And so there were slaine of them of Troy that day in the battell more then tenne thousande men and the other withdrewe themselues into the citie for to saue themselues and shut closed fast their gates and had no more intention to issue out to battell against their enemies c. CHAP. XXV ¶ How Anthenor and Eneas spake together among them for to deliuer the citie vnto the Greeks by treason and did it vnder colour of peace and howe the king Priamus gainsayd them with some of his bastards by great and rude words THe Troyans had very great sorrowe when they sawe them in this distresse for they had no more hope to haue any succours from any place and they endeuoured to nothing but to keepe well their citie and to furnish them well with bitaile for they feared nor dreaded nought of any assault Among these things the Gréeks would haue cast to the dogs the bodie of Penthesilea forasmuch as she had slaine so many noble men of Gréece but Pirrus gainsayde it for the honour and credit of noblenesse and finally they concluded that they would cast it in a pond that was nie the citie Anchises with his sonne Eneas and Anthenor with his sonne Polidamas went to counsell together for to aduise them how they might haue their liues saued against the Gréekes and their goodes and rather than they woulde faile heereof they woulde betray the Citie Then they concluded that they shoulde speake vnto king Priamus and counsell him to take a peace and appointment with the Gréekes in restoring of Helene to her husband and the damages that Paris did in the I le of Citharis O if the king Priamus had beene so happy to haue doone this and had pleased the Gréekes at the beginning he had saued his life and his wifes life and the life of all his children and had saued all the Citie and the cittizens and had eschewed all the mischiefes that came to them afterward Therefore say men in a Prouerb that the concorde or peace soone taken is good for it is an hard thing to reappease such manner dammages to him that hath aduantage of the warre For with great paine would the Gréekes haue beene content that were thē at the better hand with these offers forasmuch as they had suffered so many hurtes and damages before Troy for them séemed well that they were at the point for to destroy the Citie and all the inhabitantes But the aforenamed traitours spake not of this matter but to the end that vnder colour of peace they might betray the citie if otherwise they might not saue their liues Then they went before the king Priamus and Amphimacus one of his bastard sonnes and spake there of this matter before many noble men of the Citie and aboue as king Priamus had heard them speake of purchasing of peace with the Gréekes he thought that they spake this thing by great fury and beganne to laugh saying to them that he would be aduised and take counsell first and then they spake vnto him in this manner If thou wilt heare our counsell vpon this thing marke what we shall say and if it please thée not vse the counsell of other The king saide that hee woulde well heare their counsell and would wéete what séemed them good saying vnto them What séemeth you good Then spake Anthenor saying King you may not dissemble but that you and yours be compassed with your ennemies who béene héere by your citie desiring your death and destruction and ye may not issue out there are more than fiftie kings that desire nothing but to destroy this Cittie and you and all them that dwell therein yée may no longer resist them neyther dare ye no more open your gates and thus we let vs then be inclosed héerein We ought of two euill things choose the lesse euill and therefore for to haue peace with the Gréekes if ye séeme good we will render Helene to Menelaus her husband since that Paris is dead and also restore the damage that Paris did doe to them in Gréece rather than we will suffer our selues to be put to the death c. At these wordes arose vp Amphymacus one of the bastard sonnes of king Priamus and reprooued egerly the wordes of Anthenor and saide vnto him what trust or hope may my Lorde my father and wée haue in thée since that thou oughtest to haue firme goodwill vnto him and to this citie and we sée that thus recreant thou oughtest to liue and die with vs and thou counsellest vs now to make peace with the Gréekes to our great dishonour and shame Truely before that the king shall doe that there shall die twenty thousand menne the thing that thou counsellest the king commeth of treason Many other iniurious wordes said Amphimacus to Anthenor and Eneas beganne to interrupt him saying Yée know well that we may not from hencefoorth goe to battell against the Gréekes and we dare no more open our gates wherefore it behoueth vs to finde meanes to haue peace with them Then the king Priamus with great ire saide to Anthenor and to Eneas haue yée not shame in your selues to speake so to mée Yée make me die with sorrow for all that I haue done hitherto I haue done it by your counsel Anthenor at thy return fro Gréece whither I sent thée to require my sister counselledst thou not me that I shoulde send Paris into Gréece for to endammage the Greekes And I had neuer taken vpon me for to haue mooued war against them had not thy false counsell beene which moued me to send thither And thou Eneas alas when I sent thee with Paris into Greece wast not thou principall of the counsell that Paris should rauish Helene and bring her into this realme and thou helpedst
Tetides was lord and king a iust man and a courteous In this land arriued Anthenor with a few shippes and rested on the side of a greater Ile that was nigh vnto the port He saw the countrey faire and full of woodes and of land and of fountaines and there he builded a citie to him and to his people and fortified it with walles and good towres And when the Troians knew thereof many went thither and dwelled there with Anthenor and the citie grew apace and was full of people and Anthenor gouerned him so wisely in this land that he was well in the grace of the king Tetides and was the second after the king in his realme and named his citie Cortiremetralum Cassandra that was left at Troy had great sorrow for the great mischiefes that were fallen to her friends and ceased not to weepe and waile and when shee hadde demeaned long her sorrow the Greekes demaunded her of their estate in their returning home of which she saide to them that they should suffer many paines and great perils ere they wer come into their countrey and after she said to Agamemnon that they of his owne house shoulde slea him So it happened to him after and to all the other like as Cassandra had deuised to them and said Of the king Thelamon were left two sons of two quéenes the eldest was named Hermicides of the queen Glausta and the other of the queene Thymissa had to name Anchisatus these two children nourished the king Theuter til they were great to beare armes Among these thinges Agamemnon and Menelaus demaunded leaue for to returne into their landes and the most great of the hoste gaue thē leaue being sore vexed forasmuch as they had been taken as suspect of the death of Thelamon with Vlisses which was stollen away like a theefe wherefore he shewed well that he was culpable of the death Thus these two brethren put them to the fea for to returne home and in the entrie of the Winter when the sea is most daungerous anon after the other Greekes entered into the Sea as fooles and euill aduised for the doubtes of the Sea and had their shippes all charged and laden with the richesse whereof they hadde spoiled the riche citie and realme of Troy and for the great desire that they had for to be at home in their countrey they beganne to returne thus in the middes of the Winter and set apart all daungers and perilles which fell vnto them About the houre of noone came a great tempest and surprised them sodainly with great thunder and raine with winde and with great waues of the sea that casted their shippes heere and there in the sea and brake their mastes and all to rent their sailes And when the night came which was long and darke the shippes left each other in sayling before the winde some in one place and some in another and many were burnt with lightening and thunder that fell vpon them and many were drowned and sunke into the Sea and they that were therein were dead and drowned and the great riches of Troy lost Oyleus Aiax that had xxxii shippes in this companie had all his ships burnt and perished and he himselfe by the force of his armes and legges all naked swimming came and arriued a land all swollen with the water that hee had drunken and lay a great while vpon the grauel more looking for death then life and anon after came other in likewise that were so saued with swimming which were discomforted in their mishap and vnhappinesse This mischiefe came to this Aiax forasmuch as he drew Cassandra out of the temple of Minerue And it happeneth oft time that many be punished for the sin and trespasse of one man c. CHAP. XXVIII ¶ How the king Naulus and Cetus his sonne did spoile on the sea manie shippes of the Greeks in their return for the death of his sonne Palamedes and of the death of the king Agamemnon and of the exile of Diomedes and of his calling backe by Egee his wife c. IN this time there was a king in Gréece named Naulus that was very riche and puissant and his realme stood vpon the side of the Sea of Greece toward the South In the which Sea were great rockes and high and many mountaines and hilles of sand which were right perillous The king was father of Palamedes that was slain before Troy and hadde yet a sonne named Cetus there was none in Gréece so rich nor so puissant a king Nowe were there some euill people there that coulde not be in ease without greeuing and annoying of other which made the said king Naulus to vnderstand and his son king Cetus that Palamedes was not slain in battaile so as the voice ranne but hee was slaine couertly by Vlisses and Diomedes Agamemnon and Menelaus had made and contriued a false letter wherein was contained that Palamedes would haue betraied the hoste of the Greekes whiles he was emperour of the hoste for a great quantitie of gold and they made this letter to bée put by the side of a knight that was slaine And then Vlisses treated in such wise with one of the secretaries of Palamedes for a great summe of money such as the Letters contained and this Secretarie by the induction of Vlisses put this summe of mony vnder the head of Palamedes whiles he slept And as soone as the secretarie had said to Vlisses that he had done then Vlisses slew this Secretary priuily and forthwith did so much that this letter came into the handes of the Greeks that read it and were all abashed when they saw in writing the treason and the summe contained in the same laide vnder his head They went then into his tent and found the trueth of this thing and woulde haue runne vppon Palamedes but he offered himselfe to defend it against whom soeuer woulde prooue it and so there was none that durst fight against him Then Vlisses did so much by his faire language that this thing was appeased and it seemed that it was best that Palamedes should abide in his dignitie After this thing thus appeased Vlisses and Diomedes on a day did Palamedes to vnderstand that they knew a pit wherein was much treasure and that they would that he hadde his part and that hee should go the night following When the night was come they went all three alone without more company and there offered Palamedes for to go down into the pit first and they said that they woulde followe and assoone as hee was within the other two cast stones vpon him so many that they slew him and after returned to their tentes priuily This thing said these men charged king Naulus and Cetus of the death of Palamedes and all was false Then the king and his sonne began earnestly to thinke how they might auenge them of the Greekes They knew well that the Greekes were vppon returne in the heart of the Winter and that they
must passe by his realme And then the king Naulus did crie in all his realme that men shoulde make great fires euery night vpon the mountains that stood by the sea side And this did he to the end that when the Greekes shoulde see the fire by night they shoulde come thither weening to finde good hauen and if they came they should find hard rocks and mountaines of sand And so they shoulde not escape without death It was thus done as Naulus had deuised there were nigh two hundreth ships of the Gréeks broken against the rocks and all they that were therein were drowned When the other shippes that followed them heard the noyse of the shippes that so were broken and the câ—â—e of them that were drowned they turned on the other boord and made to seawarde and saued themselues Of them that escaped were Agamemnon Menelaus Diomedes and some other that shall bee named hereafter Cetus that otherwise was called Pellus had great sorrow when hee knew that Agamemnon was escaped and then he thought long how he might auenge himself When hee was come home and was ariued in his owne land he wrote a letter to Clitemnestra the wife of Agamemnon and this letter conteined that for certaine Agamemnon her husbande had espoused one of the daughters of king Priamus and that he loued her greatly and brought her with him into his countrey for to make her Quéene and to put out Clitemnestra or to slay her and therefore Cetus aduertised her to the end that she might prouide for her selfe Clitemnestra anon beléeued these letters and thanked Cetus enough and thought that she would auenge her of her husband This Clitemnestra in the absence of her husband loued a man named Egistus by whom she had a daughter named Erigona she loued more her loue Egistus then euer shee did her husband though he was come of lowe bloud But it is the custom of a woman that doth amisse to take one to her of lesse value than her husband is Shée had treated with Egistus that the first night that Agamemnon shoulde lie with her he should runne vpon him and slea him This thing was done in like manner as shée had purposed and Agamemnon was slaine and laide in the earth and anone after Clytemnestra tooke to husband her loue Egistus king of Michmas Agamemnon thus slaine had a sonne of this Clytemnestra that was named Horestes a yong childe which Calcibus his cousine had in kéeping and tooke him from his mother to the end that she should not slea him and after sent him to the king of Créete Idumeus that was his vncle And he had great ioy of him and so had his wife Tharasis also that loued him as much as Clytemnestra her daughter that had no more children but her and she was a faire yong maide Thus as Cetus had written to Clytemnestra the wife of Agamemnon in like manner he wrote to the wife of Diomedes named Egée who was daughter of the king Polimites of Arsimens and sister of Assandrus that returned from Troy with Diomedes his brother in lawe So it happened in their returning that they went into the land of king Thelephus which was euil content and went against them with a great company of men of armes and assailed them and they defended them strongly And Assandrus slew many of the knightes of Thelephus wherof he had great sorrow and was angry and tooke a great speare addressed him against Assandrus with so great force that he smote him to the earth and slew him Diomedes to auenge the death of his brother in law slewe many knightes of Thelephus and recouered the bodie of Assandrus with great trouble and paine and bare it into his shippe Thus died Assandrus but it was not so reported to Egée his siâ—ter but it was tolde her that Diomedes her husband had slaine him to haue all the seignorie of Archimens whereof Assandrus had the one halfe against his sister Egée Of these tidings and of them that Cetus had written Egée was angry with Diomedes her husband wrought so with her people that they promised her they would no more receiue Diomedes for their lord Thus when Diomedes returned his wife ne his folk would receiue him but banished him out of the countrey of Archimens for euer Then happened he to arriue in Salamine where king Theuter brother of king Thelamon was This king heard say that Diomedes was culpable of the death of his brother with Vlysses wherevpon he commaunded that Diomedes shoulde be taken But Diomedes hearing thereof fledde thence King Demophon and king Athamas being arriued in their landes were banished by semblable manner Then arriued they in the land of Duke Nestor which receiued them with great ioy These two kings purposed to goe into their lands with men of armes and take vengeance on their people But Duke Nestor blamed them thereof and counselled them that they should first send to them to admonish them to receiue them for their Lords and promise to them great franchises and liberties Thus did they as Nestor had counselled them and it was not long after but that their people receiued them as aforesaid While Eneas abode in Troy to repaire his shippes he indured many assaults of his neighbours that would haue taken as a prey all the remnant of the Troyans And forasmuch as he might not abide there longer then his terme assigned vnto him by the Gréekes he assembled the Troyans and councelled them that they should send and séeke Diomedes to be their king and said vnto them he would come willingly forasmuch as he was driuen out of his countrey and he was both wise and valiant So they sent for to séeke Diomedes and found him who came foorthwith and found the Troyans besieged by their neighbour nations Eneas then prepared to the battel in which Diomedes bare himselfe so valiantly that he tooke away prisoners and hanged many as théeues In the fift battell he behaued himselfe so that he gat the vpper hand altogither of his ennemies and conquered them all so as there were none of his neighbours that durst assaile the Troyans During these things the nauie of Eneas was ready wherevpon he tooke shipping with Anchises his father and being at sea they resolued to go and seeke an habitation where the gods and fortune would assigne During their aduentures at sea many perils happened and rouing at randon this way and that way they sayled by Hellespont and thence passing arriued at Tuskane in Italie from whence sayling they came to Carthage and thence againe to Italie The storie whereof who lift to peruse let him reade Virgil. When Egea the wife of Diomedes knew that the Troyans had intertained Diomedes and that he had discomfited their ennemies shée doubted that Diomedes would also take vengeaunce on her Then she councelled with her people and by their aduise she sent for him to come vnto her who came with a good will and had