is?' and {then} he raised an
immense altar, together with its fire; and hurled it into the midst of
the throng of the Lapithae, and struck down two {of them}, Broteus and
Orius. The mother of Orius was Mycale, who was known by her incantations
to have often drawn down the horns of the struggling moon. {On this}
Exadius says, 'Thou shalt not go unpunished, if only the opportunity of
getting a weapon is given me;' and, as his weapon, he wields the antlers
of a votive stag,[31] which were upon a lofty pine-tree. With the double
branches of these, Gryneus is pierced through the eyes, and has those
eyes scooped out. A part of them adheres to the antlers, a part runs
down his beard, and hangs down clotted with gore. Lo! Rhoetus snatches up
an immense flaming brand, from the middle of the altar, and on the right
side breaks through the temples of Charaxus, covered with yellow hair.
His locks, seized by the violent flames, burn like dry corn, and the
blood seared in the wound emits a terrific noise in its hissing, such as
the iron glowing in the flames is often wont to emit, which, when the
smith has drawn it out with the crooked pincers, he plunges into the
trough; whereon it whizzes, and, sinking in the bubbling water, hisses.
Wounded, he shakes the devouring fire from his locks, and takes upon his
shoulders the threshold, torn up out of the ground, a {whole}
waggon-load, which its very weight hinders him from throwing full
against the foe. The stony mass, too, bears down Cometes, a friend, who
is standing at a short distance; nor does Rhoetus {then} restrain his
joy, {and} he says, 'In such manner do I pray that the rest of the
throng of thy party may be brave;' and {then} he increases the wound,
redoubled with the half-burnt stake, and three or four times he breaks
the sutures of his head with heavy blows, and its bones sink within the
oozing brains.

"Victorious, he passes on to Evagrus, and Corythus, and Dryas; of which
{number}, when Corythus, having his cheeks covered[32] with their first
down, has fallen, Evagrus says, 'What glory has been acquired by thee,
in killing a boy?' Rhoetus permits him to say no more, and fiercely
thrusts the glowing flames into the open mouth of the hero, as he is
speaking, and through the mouth into the breast. Thee, too, cruel Dryas,
he pursues, whirling the fire around his head, but the same issue does
not await thee as well. Thou piercest him with a stake burnt at the end,
while triumphi