Of Neptune to have shared, to whom she bore
Two sons; short-lived they were, but godlike both, 370
Otus and Ephialtes far-renown'd.
Orion sole except, all-bounteous Earth
Ne'er nourish'd forms for beauty or for size
To be admired as theirs; in his ninth year
Each measur'd, broad, nine cubits, and the height 375
Was found nine ells of each. Against the Gods
Themselves they threaten'd war, and to excite
The din of battle in the realms above.
To the Olympian summit they essay'd
To heave up Ossa, and to Ossa's crown 380
Branch-waving Pelion; so to climb the heav'ns.
Nor had they failed, maturer grown in might,
To accomplish that emprize, but them the [1]son
Of radiant-hair'd Latona and of Jove
Slew both, ere yet the down of blooming youth 385
Thick-sprung, their cheeks or chins had tufted o'er.
Phædra I also there, and Procris saw,
And Ariadne for her beauty praised,
Whose sire was all-wise Minos. Theseus her
From Crete toward the fruitful region bore 390
Of sacred Athens, but enjoy'd not there,
For, first, she perish'd by Diana's shafts
In Dia, Bacchus [2]witnessing her crime.
Mæra
