ovid - lyacon

i gave the sign that. a god had come and the common people turned to their prayers

lyacon began by mocking their piety

then he said, is it. a god or a mortal

ill settle the matter by using a simple test. there will be no doubt where the truth lies.

his plan was to make a sudden attack in the night on my sleeping body and kill me

this was his chosen method of proving the truth

not content with that, he applied his sword to the throat of a hostage sent from epirus and under

my own protection and while the man's flesh still held some warmth, he roasted part of it oer the fire and poached the remainder in boiling water.

he tried to speak but his vocie broke into an echoing howl

his ravening soul infected his jaws

his murderous longings were turned on the cattle;

he was still possessed by bloodlust

he was now transformed into a a world

but he kept some signs of his former self;

the grizzled hair and the wild expression,

the blazing eyes and the bestial image remained unaltered

The loss of the human race

will be widely deplored! And what will a world bereft of mortals

be like in the future? Who will bring to our altars the offerings

of incense? Is earth to be left to the mercies of ravaging wild beasts?'

Such were their questions; but Jupiter told them not to be

anxious.

He would take care of the future, he said; and he promised to breed

a new race of miraculous birth, unlike the people before it.