The early races expressed by their religious legends their opinions on the origin and destiny of man, their motives for the performance of what they considered duty, and their ground of hope for the hereafter. […] Hecate* was their daughter. […] On looking down towards their village, they saw nothing but a lake, with their cottage standing on its side. […] The Muses easily gained the victory, and they punished their rivals by plucking the feathers from their wings and wearing them on their own heads as a sign of superiority. […] Here the Boreades seized them, but, on their swearing never to molest Phineus again, their captors released them and they rejoined their companions.