Lelaps, hound of the goddess

Buy at AllPosters.com

Procris was a mortal woman, a great favorite of the Goddess Diana, the goddess of hunting. Diana (also famous for her hunting hounds) made a gift of a dog to Procris. Lelaps was the swiftest of dogs and could outrun any rival. Diana also gave a javelin that would never miss its target to Procris.

Procris fell in love and married a beautiful youth by the name of Cephalus. Cephalus was also a great hunter, and so Procris gave the presents of the hound and javelin to her husband.

It came to pass that some angry deity had sent a ravenous fox to plague the country, snatching his prey from under the farmers very noses. All the hunters turned out in great numbers and strength to kill the fox, but their efforts failed. None had a hound that could run this supernatural fox to ground.

At last the people came to Cephalus and begged him to set Lelaps, the famous gift hound from Diana, after the fox.

Lelaps was loosed and darted away faster than the eye could follow. It was said that if the men had not seen his footprints in the sand they would have thought he had taken flight. Cephalus and the hunters stood on a hill and watched the pursuit.

The fox tried every trick, every sly, cunning art he knew to evade the hounds. He ran in a circle and turned on his track, he doubled back, he leapt over water and trotted across fallen logs, but no trick he knew would fool swift and clever Lelaps. The hound came on relentless, breathing on the foxes heels and snapping at his brushy tail, missing by only a hair!

Cephalus was about to throw the magic javelin when suddenly both dog and fox stopped, frozen in mid-motion. The heavenly powers that had given both hound and fox their powers were not willing that either should conquer - or lose. In that very moment, they turned to stone. So lifelike they were, you expected the fox to finish his leap, the dog to snap his jaws and bark. So filled with wonder he was by this, that Cephalus almost forgot to mourn the loss of Lelaps.

But I wouldn't have wanted to be the one that had to go home and tell Procris what happened to the wonderful hound she gave him.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Actaeon and his companions had spent the morning hunting with their hounds. As the sun rose in the sky they decided they had enjoyed enough sport and took a break to rest. As his companions lay about relaxing and discussing the mornings hunt, Actaeon wandered away into the woods.

There was a beautiful valley there, and in that valley a cave of wonderous appearance, a work of art to rival the finest cathedral built by man created by the Goddess's own forces of wind and water. From the side of this cave a fountain sprang, and a bathing pool, cool and clear, formed at the entrance.

The virgin Goddess Diana was in the habit of bathing there with her nymphs after a long morning spent hunting. So it happened that the virgin huntress and her nymphs were relaxing naked in the pool, even as Actaeon and his party were relaxing under the shady trees of her valley.

Actaeon's wandering feet led him to the pool where Diana and her nymphs were bathing. Shocked to see a man in their forest, her nymphs surrounded her, trying to shield her nakedness, but Diana was by far the tallest of them. She turned away reaching for her arrows, but could not reach them.

Turning, Diana splashed water over Actaeon and taunted him, saying "Go then, and tell your friends that you have seen the Virgin Huntress naked."

A stags branching horns grew from Actaeons forehead. He fell to his hands and knees and to his frightened astonishment his reflection in the clear pool become the reflection of a magnificent stag! He sprang away in fear, trying to call to his friends, but the voice that burst from him was neither his own, nor that of a deer.

First Melampus, a Spartan dog, saw the great stag and took chase, followed by the other hounds of the pack; Pamphagus, Dorceus, Lelaps, Theron, Nape, Tigris and all the rest leapt to the pursuit. Actaeon fled, longing to cry out to his men that it was he, their friend, but he could make no sound but the cries of a stag pursued.

His men took up the chase. Actaeon could hear them calling him to join, and wondering where he was as he fled from his own hounds. The dogs tore at him. One leapt to his back, another ripped his shoulder, while others nipped at his hamstrings until at last they brought him down. His own friends cheered the dogs on as they tore the life from their leader. Actaeons' last thoughts were the knowledge that if he were a man, he would have been among them, cheering the dogs on as the stag fell under their ripping fangs. At the end he realized that to see his dogs exploits was one thing, but to experience them quite another.

Diana had her revenge.

Sleepy Greyhound mug by foovay
make your own photo mug With Zazzle.com
See other Hound Mugs
This is just one of the many products you will find in my Zazzle store featuring greyhounds.