preserved,
with this reward? 'Twas not Perseus, if thou wouldst know the truth,
that took her away from thee; but the incensed majesty of the Nereids,
and horned Ammon, and the monster of the sea, which came to be glutted
with my bowels. She was snatched from thee at that moment, at which she
was to have perished; unless it is that thou dost, in thy cruelty,
insist upon that very thing, that she should perish, and wilt be
appeased only by my affliction. It is not enough, forsooth, that in thy
presence she was bound and that thou, both her uncle and her betrothed,
didst give no assistance; wilt thou be grieving, besides, that she was
saved by another, and wilt thou deprive him of his reward? If this
appears great to thee, thou shouldst have recovered it from the rock to
which it was fastened. Now, let him who has recovered it, through whom
my old age is not childless, have what he stipulated for, both by his
merits and his words; and know that he was preferred not before thee,
but before certain death."

{Phineus said} nothing, on the other hand; but viewing both him and
Perseus, with alternate looks, he was uncertain whether he should
{first} attack the one or the other; and, having paused a short time, he
vainly threw his spear, hurled with all the force that rage afforded. As
it stood fixed in the cushion,[2] then, at length, Perseus leapt off
from the couch, and in his rage would have pierced the breast of his
enemy with the weapon, thrown back, had not Phineus gone behind an
altar, and {thus} (how unworthily!) an altar[3] protected a miscreant.
However, the spear, not thrown in vain, stuck in the forehead of Rhoetus;
who, after he fell, and the steel was wrenched from the skull, he
{still} struggled, and besprinkled the laid tables with his blood. But
then does the multitude burst forth into ungovernable rage, and hurl
their weapons. Some there are, who say that Cepheus ought to die with
his son-in-law; but Cepheus has gone out by the entrance of the house,
calling right and good faith to witness, and the Gods of hospitality,[4]
that this disturbance is made contrary to his will. The warlike Pallas
comes; and with her shield protects her brother {Perseus}, and gives him
courage. There was an Indian, Athis {by name},[5] whom Limnate, the
daughter of the river Ganges, is believed to have brought forth beneath
the glassy waters; excelling in beauty, which he improved by his rich
dress; in his prime, as yet but twice ei