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Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

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Kastor and Polydeukes 439<br />

Right soon the noble hero keen of eye<br />

Saw both of them <strong>in</strong>side a hollow oak,<br />

Horse-tam<strong>in</strong>g Kastor, prizeman Polydeukes.<br />

Then drew he near and smote the mighty oak^.<br />

A later author likewise much beholden to the Kypria was the<br />

enigmatic Lykophron—witness the follow<strong>in</strong>g extract from his<br />

Alexa7idra'^:<br />

One^ with his cornel strik<strong>in</strong>g hollow trunk<br />

Of a black oak* shall slaughter one'' of twa<strong>in</strong>.<br />

To wit the lion" pitted 'ga<strong>in</strong>st the bull'.<br />

The other'' with his lance shall rip the flank<br />

O' the bulP and bear him groundwards. Yet once more<br />

The dauntless ram^" shall butt him'', brandish<strong>in</strong>g<br />

The glory of the Amyclaean tomb.<br />

Howbeit bronze'- and far-flung thunderbolts<br />

Shall slay both bulls'^ together, one'* of whom<br />

By doughty deeds had satisfied enow<br />

The god of Skias, Orchia, Tilphossa,<br />

What time he'" bent his horn and fought his fight.<br />

The one pair Hades, but the other Olympos<br />

Shall welcome guestlike on alternate days,<br />

Mortal immortals, saved by brotherly love'".<br />

Now we may be very sure that the orig<strong>in</strong>al explanation of the<br />

Tw<strong>in</strong>s' <strong>in</strong>-and-out career was not, as P<strong>in</strong>dar and Lykophron would<br />

' Cypriafrag. 9 K<strong>in</strong>kel ap. schol. F<strong>in</strong>d. Nem. 10. 114 6 }xkv 'Aplarapxo^ d^toi ypd

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