They aimed at excellence in the highest, in order that their statues might be installed in their national temples as ‌those of demi-gods, and the struggle brought them sufficient knowledge and energy to win deathless renown among men. […] Oh that we might be spared: I to inflict, And thou to suffer! […] While on earth, he loved the nymph Daphne, and Mercury who had invented the lyre, gave it to him that he might the more effectually give vent to his passion. […] On his return to his native country with his riches, the sailors of the vessel in which he had embarked, resolved to murder him, that they might obtain possession of his wealth; when the poet discovered their intention, he endeavoured to outwit them. […] His temple was on the Tarpeian rock, and he was represented with a human head, though without feet or arms, to intimate that he never moved, wherever he might be placed.