Mercury came to Athens seeking Herse, the fairest of Cecrops' three daughters, and tried to bribe the jealous middle sister Aglauros with gold — but Envy, sent by Minerva, filled Aglauros with spite until she blocked the god's path and was turned to black stone for her impiety.1
The sisters of Cecrops
On the Acropolis dwelt Pandrosos, Aglauros, and Herse between them — daughters of the earth-born king, devoted to Minerva's praise. Mercury, flying down from heaven on his way to a mission for Jove, saw Herse and burned to possess her. Aglauros was first to spy the god and ask his name and errand.2
The golden bribe
Mercury offered Aglauros gold if she would let him pass to Herse. Minerva, still angry that Aglauros had opened the chest where Erichthonius lay hidden with the serpent, sent Envy from the house of Pluto to poison the sister's heart. Aglauros grew green with spite and swelled with hidden rage.3
Stone
When Mercury came again Aglauros sat in the doorway and refused him entry, though he pleaded and doubled the gold. At last the god touched her with his wand; she felt her limbs grow stiff, her veins turn marble, and her tongue freeze in her mouth. Envy left her body, and Aglauros became a black statue seated on the threshold.4
· EXEUNT ·
How the centuries saw it
Mercury, Herse, and Aglaurus
Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, 1767
Lagrenée's Nationalmuseum canvas: Mercury at the threshold, Herse the prize, Aglauros the envious sister who will turn to stone — Ovid's Cecropid triangle.
Mercury, Herse, and Aglauros
Nicolas Poussin, c. 1624–1627
Poussin's ENSBA drawing compresses Metamorphoses II into a doorway drama — Mercury, Herse, and the sister who bars the god.
Hermes and Herse
Makron (potter Hieron), c. 480 BC
Attic red-figure cup (Louvre G494): Hermes pursues Herse — the desire that makes Aglauros' envy fatal in Ovid's later telling.
Lekythos with Hermes and Herse
Attic workshop, c. 5th century BC
White-ground lekythos (Madrid): Hermes and Herse meet — the named encounter before Roman poets thicken the jealousy plot with Aglauros' stone.
In play
Metamorphoses
Ovid
Book II stages Mercury's bribe, Minerva's Envy, and Aglauros turned to stone — the jealous sister who bars the god from her sibling Herse.
Aglaurus, daughter of Cecrops
Cecrops' middle daughter remains Ovid's emblem of envy punished — the Athenian princess who opens Pandora's box of spite and ends as rock.
Herse
The fairest Cecropid Mercury sought — Herse's beauty and Aglauros' gatekeeping keep the Athenian sisters paired in reception.