204 Ulisse Aldrovandi

...in a low voice he revealed it to the earth. From his words, reeds are said to have grown which, when stirred by the wind, whisper of Midas’s shame. Leaving that place, Apollo and Neptune went to Laomedon as he was building the walls of Troy, promising that they would complete the great structures quickly for a negotiated fee. However, once the work was finished, Laomedon swore he had promised nothing. In retaliation, Neptune devastated the Trojan fields with a flood and arranged for Laomedon’s daughter, Hesione, to be exposed to a sea monster to be devoured. Hercules later freed the girl, hoping to obtain the horses Laomedon had promised him, but when he too was denied his reward, he was driven by rage to conquer Troy. He then gave Hesione to Telamon.

Telamon’s brother Peleus was the only mortal to have a goddess for a wife. On the advice of Proteus, he captured the goddess Thetis by binding her with ropes while she was shifting through various forms; by her, he fathered the exceptionally brave Achilles. Peleus, however, fell into a great misfortune when he killed his father Phocus. After committing this crime, he went to Ceyx, the King of Trachis, who was himself mired in deep mourning. Ceyx's brother, Daedalion, had a beautiful daughter named Chione, who was seduced by Apollo (disguised as an old woman) and bore Philemon, a man devoted to the lyre. She also lay with Mercury during her sleep and gave birth to the thief Autolycus. Because she eventually boasted of being more beautiful than Diana, she was killed when her tongue was pierced by the goddess’s arrows. Daedalion took her death so hard that he threw himself from Mount Parnassus into the sea, but Apollo instantly transformed him into a hawk before he could hit the waves.

Perhaps you think this bird, who lives on plunder and terrifies all other birds, always had feathers. He was once a man, and as fierce in spirit as he was sharp—brave in war and ready for violence. His name was Daedalion.

While Ceyx was recounting these events, Peleus's herdsman arrived to report to his master that all the cattle had been killed by a rabid wolf, which was eventually turned into stone. Peleus did not stay long in those regions but traveled to King Acastus of Thessaly. Meanwhile, Ceyx—whom we mentioned just before—remained sorrowful over his brother’s fate and set out to consult the Oracle of Apollo, promising his wife Alcyone that he would return within two months. However, a storm arose on the Aegean Sea, and he drowned along with his companions. When the appointed time passed and her husband did not return, Alcyone was informed of his death by Morpheus, the son of Sleep, through the intervention of Juno. Approaching the shore and seeing her husband’s body in the sea, she was transformed into a kingfisher and flew toward him. Sensing his wife’s arrival, Ceyx was likewise turned into a bird of the same kind.

She leaps forward—a wonder she could do so—and flew, beating the light air with her newly formed wings. When she touched the silent, bloodless body, he felt it; at last, by the mercy of the gods, both were transformed into birds. Even then, their love remained, bound by the same fate.

For this reason, these birds always nest on the shores. The same is true of that little bird called the diver; for this was once Aesacus, the son of Priam and the nymph Alycothoe. While he was pursuing the nymph Hesperie, she was bitten by a snake while fleeing and died. Aesacus was struck with such grief that he threw himself headlong from a cliff into the sea, but before he reached the waves, Tethys turned him into a diver bird, which still delights in the water to this day.

...he casts his body over the waves; feathers break his fall. It was Aesacus; he plunges headfirst into the deep, seeking a path to death without end. Love made him thin; the joints of his legs are long, his neck remains long, and his head sits far from his body. He loves the sea, and his name remains because he dives into it.

In the twelfth book, the poet first describes the grief of Priam and his sons as they mourned for Aesacus. Only Paris was absent, for his abduction of Helen had provided the spark for the Trojan War; indeed, the Greeks...