Ques. For what was Proteus remarkable?
Ans. For his power of transforming himself instantaneously into any shape he wished.
Ques. Who was Triton?
Ans. He was the son of Neptune and Amphitri´te, and was his father’s companion and trumpeter. The upper half of his body was like that of a man, but below the waist he resembled a fish; his tail was cleft and crooked, and his hair resembled wild parsley.
Ques. What other sea-monsters were celebrated?
Ans. The Sirens, also Scylla, and Charybdis.
Ques. Who were the Sirens?
Ans. They were monsters who had the faces of women, but the bodies of flying-fish; they dwelt near the promontory of Peloris, or in islands called Sirenusæ, south of Italy. By the magical sweetness of their singing, they allured all who sailed by those coasts; and after they had lulled them into a trance, drowned them in the sea.
Ques. What was there remarkable in the songs of the Sirens?
Ans. They blended the notes of different musical instruments with their voices, and adapted the style and matter of their songs to the inclination of their hearers. They had bold and stirring strains to entice the ambitious, softer melodies for the lovers of pleasure, and with still different notes, they drew on the covetous to their destruction.