Lycurgus, not the Spartan lawgiver, would destroy the vineyards of Thrace. […] The virtues of this wand were such that every thing it touched, when awake, would sink into sleep, and when asleep, would awaken. […] Without it, weakness would be stripped by strength, and lands would remain uncultivated; for it enables man to prosecute business with certainty and facility. […] In vain would men, in vain would gods essay, To hew the beams of adamant away. […]  — It would be tedious, as well as useless, to name all the ancient deities.

Suppose that one could fix upon the terminal point, we would still fancy something beyond that, and then some period still more remote would present itself, and so on ad infinitum. […] It was kept with the greatest care, as it was prophesied that the fate of the Roman people would depend upon its preservation. […] The oracle told her that marriage would be fatal to her, but, being very beautiful, she had many suitors. […] In that form she was hunted by her son Arcas, who would have killed her had not Jupiter turned him into a he-bear. […] He was assisted in this enterprise by Pluto, who lent him a helmet which would make him invisible.