Peneus

Cupid, read by Michael Fays.

Peneus, read by Alan Mapstone.

Venus, read by Agnes Robert-Bear.

Daphne, read by Jen Broda.

Daphne runs by swiftly, her hair hanging loose on her shoulders.

Apollo follows, hoping to detain her.

Stay, daughter of Peneus.

I am not a foe.

In and out among the trees she darted, hoping to bewilder him into giving up the chase, but Apollo kept close behind, and little by little gained on her flying feet.

Wearied but unyielding, Daphne now hurried her steps toward the stream at the edge of the forest, where she knew that she would find her father, the river god Peneus.

As she neared the stream, she cried aloud to him for help, and just as Apollo had reached her side and his outstretched hand was on her shoulder, a rough bark began to enclose her soft body in its protecting sheath.

Green branches sprouted from the ends of her uplifted arms, and her floating hair became only waving leaves under the grasp of the god's eager fingers.

These stables had not been cleaned for thirty years, and when Hercules caught one glimpse of the filth within them, he felt that this was too degrading a task for him to undertake.

But the work had to be done, and since he could not put his hand to anything so foul, he looked about for some other means to accomplish the labor.

Not far from the stables flowed two rivers, the Peneus and Alpheus, and these Hercules turned out of their courses and made them rush through the filthy building until every part of the stables of Augeas was washed perfectly clean.

Then he restored the rivers to their former beds and returned home to report his task fulfilled.

This is the offspring of Cato and Forcus.

And Tethys bore to ocean eddying rivers, Nihilus, and Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of Achalus, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliachmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and Isepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus.

and hermas and caecus fair stream and great sangarius ladon parthenius euenus ardescus and divine scamander also she brought forth a holy company of daughters who with the lord apollo and the rivers have youths in their keeping to this charge zeus appointed them patho and admete and ianthe and electra and dorus and primno and urania divine in form hippo climene rhodia and Zuxo and Clytae, and Idea, and Pasithoe, Plexora, and Galaxora, and lovely Dione, Melibosis, and Thoe, and handsome Polydora, Serchius, lovely of form, and soft-eyed Pluto, Perseus, Ionira, Acaste, Xanthi, Petraea the fair, Menesto, and Europa, Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto, saffron-clad, Chryseis and Asea and charming Calypso, Eudora and Tyche, Amphirho and Okerhoi and Styx, who is the chiefest of them all.

these are the eldest daughters that sprang from ocean and tethys but there are many besides for there are three thousand neat-angled daughters of ocean who are dispersed far and wide and in every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters children who are glorious among goddesses and as many other rivers are there babbling as they flow sons of ocean whom queenly tethys bare but their names it is hard for a mortal man to tell but people know those by which they severally dwell and theaia was subject in love to hyperion and bore great helia sun and clear selene moon and eos dawn who shines upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless gods who live in the wide heaven And Eurybia, bright goddess, was joined in love to Creus, and bore great Astraeus, and Pallas, and Perseus, who also was eminent among all men in wisdom.