Cĕphălus

, son of Deioneus king of The aly, by Diomede daughter of Xuthus, married Procris, daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. Aurora fell in love with him, and carried him away; but he refused to listen to her addre es, and was impatient to return to Procris. The godde sent him back; and to try the fidelity of his wife, she made him put on a different form, and he arrived at the house of Procris in the habit of a merchant. Procris was deaf to every offer; but she suffered herself to be seduced by the gold of this stranger, who discovered himself the very moment that Procris had yielded up her virtue. This circumstance so ashamed Procris, that she fled from her husband, and devoted herself to hunting in the island of Eubœa, where she was admitted among the attendants of Diana, who presented her with a dog always sure of his prey, and a dart which never mi ed its aim, and always returned to the hands of its mistre of its own accord. Some say that the dog was a present from Minos, because Procris had cured his wounds. After this Procris returned in disguise to Cephalus, who was willing to disgrace himself by some unnatural conce ions to obtain the dog and the dart of Procris. Procris discovered herself at the moment that Cephalus showed himself faithle , and a reconciliation was easily made between them. They loved one another with more tenderne than before, and Cephalus received from his wife the presents of Diana. As he was particularly fond of hunting, he every morning early repaired to the woods, and after much toil and fatigue, laid himself down in the cool shade, and earnestly called for Aura , or the refreshing breeze. This ambiguous word was mistaken for the name of a mistre ; and some informer reported to the jealous Procris that Cephalus daily paid a visit to a mistre , whose name was Aura. Procris too readily believed the information, and secretly followed her husband into the woods. According to his daily custom, Cephalus retired to the cool, and called after Aura. At the name of Aura, Procris eagerly lifted up her head to see her expected rival. Her motion occasioned rustling among the leaves of a bush that concealed her; and as Cephalus listened, he thought it to be a wild beast, and he let fly his unerring dart. ♦ Procris was struck to the heart, and instantly expired in the arms of her husband, confe ing that ill-grounded jealousy was the cause of her death. According to Apollo dor us, there were two persons of the name of Cephalus; one, son of Mercury and Herse, carried away by Aurora, with whom he dwelt in Syria, and by whom he had a son called Tithonus. The other married Procris, and was the cause of the tragical event mentioned above. Cephalus was father of Arcefius by Procris, and of Phaeton, according to Hesiod, by Aurora. Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 7 , fable 26.— Hyginus , fable 189.— Apollo dor us , bk. 3 , ch. 15 .――A Corinthian lawyer, who a isted Timoleon in regulating the republic of Syracuse. Diodorus , bk. 16 .— Plutarch , Timoleon .――A king of Epirus. Livy , bk. 43 , ch. 18 .――An orator frequently mentioned by Demosthenes. ♦ ‘Procus’ replaced with ‘Procris’