,
wherewith in wars I win renown beyond all others (nor does Zeus aid me
so much as my own spear), that no woe will be fatal, no venture will be
unachieved, while Idas follows, even though a god should oppose thee.
Such a helpmeet am I that thou bringest from Arene."

(ll. 472-475) He spake, and holding a brimming goblet in both hands
drank off the unmixed sweet wine; and his lips and dark cheeks were
drenched with it; and all the heroes clamoured together and Idmon spoke
out openly:

(ll. 480-484) "Vain wretch, thou art devising destruction for thyself
before the time. Does the pure wine cause thy bold heart to swell in thy
breast to thy ruin, and has it set thee on to dishonour the gods? Other
words of comfort there are with which a man might encourage his comrade;
but thou hast spoken with utter recklessness. Such taunts, the tale
goes, did the sons of Aloeus once blurt out against the blessed gods,
and thou dost no wise equal them in valour; nevertheless they were both
slain by the swift arrows of Leto's son, mighty though they were."

(ll. 485-486) Thus he spake, and Aphareian Iclas laughed out, loud and
long, and eyeing him askance replied with biting words:

(ll. 487-491) "Come now, tell me this by thy prophetic art, whether for
me too the gods will bring to pass such doom as thy father promised for
the sons of Aloeus. And bethink thee how thou wilt escape from my hands
alive, if thou art caught making a prophecy vain as the idle wind."

(ll. 492-495) Thus in wrath Idas reviled him, and the strife would
have gone further had not their comrades and Aeson's son himself with
indignant cry restrained the contending chiefs; and Orpheus lifted his
lyre in his left hand and made essay to sing.

(ll. 496-511) He sang how the earth, the heaven and the sea, once
mingled together in one form, after deadly strife were separated each
from other; and how the stars and the moon and the paths of the sun ever
keep their fixed place in the sky; and how the mountains rose, and how
the resounding rivers with their nymphs came into being and all creeping
things. And he sang how first of all Ophion and Eurynome, daughter of
Ocean, held the sway of snowy Olympus, and how through strength of arm
one yielded his prerogative to Cronos and the other to Rhea, and how
they fell into the waves of Ocean; but the other two meanwhile ruled
over the blessed Titan-gods, while Zeus, still a child and with the
thoughts of a child, dwelt in the