Prœtĭdes

, the daughters of Prœtus king of Argolis, were three in number, Lysippe, Iphinoe, and I phi an a a. They became insane for neglecting the worship of Bacchus, or, according to others, for preferring themselves to Juno, and they ran about the fields, believing themselves to be cows, and flying away not to be harne ed to the plough or to the chariot. Prœtus applied to Melampus to cure his daughters of their insanity, but he refused to employ him when he demanded the third part of his kingdom as a reward. This neglect of Prœtus was punished, the insanity became contagious, and the monarch at last promised Melampus two parts of his kingdom and one of his daughters, if he would restore them and the Argian women to their senses. Melampus consented, and after he had wrought the cure, he married the most beautiful of the Prœtides. Some have called them Lysippe, Ipponoe, and Cyriana a. Apollo dor us , bk. 2 , ch. 2 .— Virgil , Eclogues , poem 6, li. 48 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 15 .— Lac tanti us [Placid us] on Statius , Thebaid , bks. 1 & 3.