De Incredibilibus

They say that Minos imprisoned Daidalos and his son Icaros for some reason and that Daidalos made wings for both of them, put them on, and flew away with Icaros. To think that a man could fly, even wearing wings: impossible!

What actually happened[*](We translate Vitelli’s conjecture γενόμενον (what happened) rather than the transmitted λεγόμενον, (what was said).) is as follows. Daidalos was being held in a prison. He let himself out through a window and – pulling his son down with him – embarked on a small boat and got away. When Minos realised this, he sent ships to pursue them. When they realised that they were being pursued, there was a strong, favourable wind and it seemed as if they were flying. Soon, as they were sailing with a fair south wind from Crete, they capsized. Daidalos reached the shore safely, but Icaros perished. (And from him this sea is called the Icarian.) His body was tossed ashore by the waves and his father buried him.

What’s said about Atalanta and Meilanion is that he changed into a lion, and she a lioness.

But the truth is the following. Atalanta and Meilanion were hunting. Meilanion persuaded the girl to have sex with him. They entered a cave to have sex. However, deep in the cave was the den of a lion and a lioness; hearing the sound, they emerged, pounced on Atalanta and her husband, and did away with them. Afterwards, when the lion and the lioness came out, Meilanion’s hunting companions saw them and deduced that the couple had been transformed into those animals. So, rushing back to the city, they spread the story that Atalanta and her husband had been transformed into lions.

There is also a similar story about Callisto: that she turned into a bear while out hunting.

But I would say that she, too, came upon a thicket where there happened to be a bear, and it devoured the huntress entirely. The other hunters, who had seen her enter but not emerge, said that the girl had become a bear.

They say that Europa, the daughter of Phoinix, travelled across the sea from Tyre to Crete, riding a bull. But I don’t think that a bull – or even a horse – could swim across such an expanse of open water. And nor would a girl climb up onto the back of a wild bull: if Zeus had wanted Europa to go to Crete, he would have found a better way to get her there.

The truth is as follows. A man from Knossos called Tauros [‘Bull’] was waging war around Tyre. He ended up carrying off many girls – and among them was the king’s daughter, Europa. And so people would say, Tauros has taken Europa, the daughter of the king, and gone off with her! And from these events, the myth was fabricated.