Galaxy/The codex of Ligdus

Poor but honest Cretan near Phaestus who vowed to expose any child that was not a boy — and betrothed his daughter Iphis, raised in boy's dress, to Ianthe before Isis changed the bridegroom on the eve of the wedding.1

I

Near Phaestus and Gnossus lived Ligdus, poor but honest, and his wife Telethusa. When she was with child he swore to kill the infant if it were a girl, for they could not afford a dowry — and Isis appeared to Telethusa in a dream forbidding the exposure.2

II

When a daughter was born, Telethusa lied and named her Iphis after the grandfather; Ligdus never knew the fraud. He betrothed Iphis to Ianthe, fairest of the Cretan girls — and on the eve of the wedding Isis answered their prayer, changing Iphis into a man in form.3

the spine ignites as you read · hover a bond on the card — every mention of them lights in the story

BEYOND THE POETS

How the centuries since have seen Ligdus — art, artifacts and echoes.

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