ere
both the purple is being woven, which is subjected to the Tyrian brazen
vessel,[7] and fine shades of minute difference; just as the rainbow,
with its mighty arch, is wont to tint a long tract of the sky by means
of the rays reflected by the shower: in which, though a thousand
different colors are shining, yet the very transition eludes the eyes
that look upon it; to such a degree is that which is adjacent the same;
and yet the extremes are different. There, too, the pliant gold is mixed
with the threads, and ancient subjects are represented on the webs.

Pallas embroiders the rock of Mars[8] in {Athens}, the citadel of
Cecrops, and the old dispute about the name of the country. Twice six[9]
celestial Gods are sitting on lofty seats in august state, with Jupiter
in the midst. His own proper likeness distinguishes each of the Gods.
The form of Jupiter is that of a monarch. She makes the God of the sea
to be standing {there}, and to be striking the rugged rocks with his
long trident, and a wild {horse} to be springing forth[10] out of the
midst of the opening of the rock; by which pledge {of his favor} he lays
claim to the city. But to herself she gives the shield, she gives the
lance with its sharp point; she gives the helmet to her head, {and} her
breast is protected by the AEgis. She {there} represents, too, the earth
struck by her spear, producing a shoot of pale olive with its berries,
and the Gods admiring it. Victory is the end of her work. But that the
rival of her fame may learn from precedents what reward to expect for an
attempt so mad, she adds, in four {different} parts, four contests
bright in their coloring, and distinguished by diminutive figures. One
corner contains Thracian Rhodope and Haemus, now cold mountains, formerly
human bodies, who assumed to themselves the names of the supreme Gods.
Another part contains the wretched fate of the Pygmaean matron.[11] Her,
overcome in a contest, Juno commanded to be a crane, and to wage war
against her own people. She depicts, too, Antigone,[12] who once dared
to contend with the wife of the great Jupiter; {and} whom the royal Juno
changed into a bird; nor did Ilion protect her, or her father Laomedon,
from assuming wings, and {as} a white crane, from commending herself
with her chattering beak. The only corner that remains, represents the
bereft Cinyras;[13] and he, embracing the steps of a temple, {once} the
limbs of his own daughters, and lying upon the ston