Pyreneus

One of the Muses recounts that Pyreneus, who had seized the Daulian and Phocean lands with Thracian soldiers, saw the sisters on the road to Parnassus. He recognized them and greeted them as the daughters of Mnemosyne, pretending to honour the goddesses. Rain was falling, so he invited them to wait beneath his roof until the weather passed, arguing that even the gods sometimes accept modest shelter. The Muses accepted the offer and entered the house. The speaker admits that the encounter still unsettles her memory.

When the rain ceased, the south wind was quieted by the north and the dark clouds dispersed. The Muses wished to continue their journey, but Pyreneus shut the house and prepared to use force against them. They escaped by taking wing. Pyreneus climbed to the roof and declared that he could follow by the same way. In his madness he leapt after them, but fell face-first to the ground and died from the fall.