Aglauros

Family: Cecrops's family · Role: virgin · First appears: Fable 23

Aglauros, a virgin of Cecrops’s family, was one of the three daughters entrusted by Minerva with a basket containing Ericthonius, under orders not to inspect it. She challenged Pandrosos and Herse, then untied the basket and found a child with a dragon beside him; “Aglauros alone calls her sisters cowards.”

Later, Mercury, seeking access to Herse, asked Aglauros to favor his love. She demanded heavy gold for her help and forced him from the house. Angered by her profanation and avarice, Minerva went to Envy, who entered Aglauros’s chamber, poisoned her with jealousy of Herse’s happiness, and filled her heart with thorns.

When Mercury returned, Aglauros blocked the threshold and refused to move, saying, “Cease {all this}; I shall not remove myself hence, until thou art repulsed.” Mercury opened the door with his wand, and as she tried to rise, her body became numb and immovable; stone took possession of her neck, and she became a bloodless statue.