s._--Ver. 585. Clarke translates
'Nymphas in freta provolvi,' 'I tumbled the nymphs into the sea.']

[Footnote 81: _Perimele._--Ver. 590. According to Apollodorus, the
name of the wife of Acheloues was Perimede; and she bore him two
sons, Hippodamas and Orestes. The Echinades were five small
islands in the Ionian Sea, near the coast of Acarnania, which are
now called Curzolari.]

EXPLANATION.

This story is simply based upon physical grounds. The river
Acheloues, running between Acarnania and AEtolia, and flowing into the
Ionian Sea, carried with it a great quantity of sand and mud, which
probably formed the islands at its mouth, called the Echinades. The
same solution probably applies to the narrative of the fate of the
Nymph Perimele.

FABLE VI. [VIII.611-737]

Jupiter and Mercury, disguised in human shape, are received by
Philemon and Baucis, after having been refused admittance by their
neighbours. The Gods, in acknowledgment of their hospitality,
transform their cottage into a temple, of which, at their own
request, they are made the priest and priestess; and, after a long
life, the worthy couple are changed into trees. The village where
they live is laid under water, on account of the impiety of the
inhabitants, and is turned into a lake. Acheloues here relates the
surprising changes of Proteus.

After these things the river was silent. The wondrous deed had
astonished them all. The son of Ixion laughed at them,[82] believing
{the story}; and as he was a despiser of the Gods, and of a haughty
disposition, he said, "Acheloues, thou dost relate a fiction, and dost
deem the Gods more powerful than they are, if they both give and take
away the form {of things}." {At this} all were amazed, and did not
approve of such language; and before all, Lelex, ripe in understanding
and age, spoke thus: "The power of heaven is immense, and has no limits;
and whatever the Gods above will, 'tis done.

"And that thou mayst the less doubt {of this}, there is upon the
Phrygian hills, an oak near to the lime tree, enclosed by a low
wall.[83] I, myself, have seen the spot; for Pittheus sent me into the
land of Pelops, once governed by his father, {Pelops}. Not far thence is
a standing water, formerly habitable ground, but now frequented by
cormorants and coots, that delight in fens. Jupiter came hither in the
shape of a man, and together with his parent, the grandson of A