Cassiopeia was said to have been an Ethiopian; and was, therefore, in spite of her boasted beauty black. Milton alludes to her in "Il Penseroso" as:
"that starred Ethiop queen that strove To set her beauty's praise above The Sea-Nymphs, and their powers offended."
Though Cassiopeia attained the honor of being set among the stars, she was placed--through the efforts of the sea-nymphs--in a part of the heavens near the pole, where she is half the time held with her head downward, to teach her humility.
For a Gaelic Andromeda and Perseus, see "The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin" in Curtin's "Myths of Ireland."
From the incident of Bellerophon's bearing to Iobates the letters that contained his own death-warrant, came the expression "Bellerophontic letters." This is used to describe any written message that a person may deliver, unknowingly, and that is prejudicial to himself.
On Mount Helicon, the home of the Muses and Pegasus, was the fountain Hippocrene, which was opened by a kick from the hoof of Pegasus.
Bellerophon in Argos and in Lycia WILLIAM MORRIS
The most famous soothsayer was Melampus, who was also the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers. The story is told that before his house stood an oak tree containing a nest of serpents. The old serpents were killed by some servants, but Melampus took care of the young ones, and fed them carefully. One day when he was sleeping under the oak tree, the serpents licked his ears with their tongues; and when he awoke he was surprised to find that he now understood the languages of birds and creeping things. In this way he was able to foretell future events, and he became a celebrated soothsayer. Once Melampus was taken captive and put into prison; but he overheard the woodworms saying that the timbers of the prison were so nearly eaten through that the roof would soon fall in. He told this to his captors, who immediately took advantage of the warning and left the building; but not before they rewarded Melampus by setting him free.
The best description of Hercules's lament for Hylas is in Lang's translation of the thirteenth Idyl of Theocritus.
The naming of Jason's ship may have been after its builder, or from the city of Argos, or from the word "Argo," meaning swift or white.