56 Chapter 3
Idas and Apollo fought for her hand, but Zeus allowed the girl to chose
between the suitors. Marpessa chose Idas because she knew that Apollo
would desert her in old age (Apollodorus Library 1.7.8).
A fragment of a verse by the great poet Sappho (ca. 630– 570 BC)
written on scraps of papyrus was deciphered in 2004. The verse is known
Fig. 3.3. Tithonus turning into a cicada, engraving, Michel de Marolles, Tableaux du Temple des
Muses (Paris, 1655). HIP / Art Resource, NY.