time to lend an ear to our strains." Pallas says, "Do
not hesitate, and repeat your song to me in its order;" and she takes
her seat under the pleasant shade of the grove. The Muse {then} tells
her story. "We assigned the management of the contest to one {of our
number}. Calliope rises, and, having her long hair gathered up with ivy,
tunes with her thumb the sounding chords; and {then} sings these lines
in concert with the strings when struck."

[Footnote 23: _Polydectes._--Ver. 242. Polydectes was king of the
little island of Seriphus, one of the Cyclades. His brother Dictys
had removed Perseus, with his mother Danae, to the kingdom of
Polydectes. The latter became smitten with love for Danae, though
he was about to marry Hippodamia. On this occasion he exacted a
promise from Perseus, of the head of the Gorgon Medusa. When
Perseus returned victorious, he found that his mother, with her
protector Dictys, had taken refuge at the altars of the Deities,
against the violence of Polydectes; on which Perseus changed him
into stone. The story of Perseus afforded abundant materials to
the ancient poets. AEschylus wrote a Tragedy called Polydectes,
Sophocles one called Danae, while Euripides composed two, called
respectively Danae and Dictys. Pherecydes also wrote on this
subject, and his work seems to have been a text book for
succeeding poets. Polygnotus painted the return of Perseus with
the head of Medusa, to the island of Seriphus.]

[Footnote 24: _To her brother._--Ver. 250. As both Tritonia, or
Minerva, and Perseus had Jupiter for their father.]

[Footnote 25: _Gyarus._--Ver. 252. Cythnus and Gyarus were two
islands of the Cyclades.]

[Footnote 26: _The new fountain._--Ver. 256. This was Helicon,
which was produced by a blow from the hoof of Pegasus.]

[Footnote 27: _Urania._--Ver. 260. One of the Muses, who presided
over Astronomy.]

[Footnote 28: _Mnemonian._--Ver. 268. The Muses are called
'Mnemonides,' from the Greek word +mnemon+ 'remembering,' or
'mindful,' because they were said to be the daughters, by Jupiter,
of Mnemosyne, or Memory.]

[Footnote 29: _Phocean._--Ver. 276. Daulis was a city of Phocis;
a district between Boeotia and AEtolia, in which the city of Delphi
and Mount Parnassus were situate.]

[Footnote 30: _Our Divinities._--Ver. 279. 'Nostra veneratus
numina,' is