Cephalus was the son of the god Hermes and the daughter of Cecrops, Chersa. Far throughout Greece, Cephalus was famous for his wondrous beauty, and he was also famous as a tireless hunter. Early, even before sunrise, he left his palace and his young wife Procris and went hunting in the mountains of Hymet. One day, the rose-fingered goddess of the dawn Eos saw the beautiful Cephalus, kidnapped him and took him far from Athens, to the very ends of the earth. Cephalus loved only Procris, he only thought about her, her name never left his lips. He grieved being separated from his wife and prayed to the goddess Eos to let him go back to Athens. Eos became angry and said to Cephalus:
- Okay, go back to Procris, stop complaining about fate! Someday you will regret that Procris is your wife, you will even regret that you recognized her! Oh, I predict this will happen!
Eos Kephala released. Saying goodbye to him, she convinced him to test his wife's fidelity. The goddess changed Cephalus's appearance, and he returned unrecognized to Athens. By cunning, Cephalus entered his house and found his wife in deep sadness. And Procris was beautiful in sadness. Cephalus spoke to his wife and tried for a long time to persuade her to forget her husband, leave him and become his wife. She did not recognize Procris as her husband. For a long time she did not want to listen to the stranger and kept repeating:
“I love only Cephalus and will remain faithful to him.” Wherever he is, alive or dead, I will forever remain faithful to him!
Finally, Cephalus swayed her with rich gifts. And she was already ready to bow to his pleas. Then, assuming his true form, Cephalus exclaimed:
- Unfaithful! I am your husband, Cephalus! I myself am a witness to your infidelity!
Procris did not answer her husband. Bowing her head low in shame, she left the house of Cephalus and went into the forest-covered mountains. There she became the companion of the goddess Artemis. From the goddess she received as a gift from Procris a wonderful spear, which always hit the target and itself returned to the one who threw it, and the dog Lailapa, from which not a single wild animal could escape.
Cephalus was not able to live in separation from Procris for long. He found his wife in the forests and persuaded her to return back. Procris returned to her husband, and they lived happily for a long time. Lailapa Procris gave her wonderful spear and dog to her husband, who, as before, went hunting before dawn. Cephalus hunted alone, unaccompanied; he did not need assistants - after all, he had a wonderful spear and Lailap with him. One day, early in the morning, Cephalus was hunting; at noon, when the scorching heat set in, he began to seek protection in the shade of the heat. Cephalus walked slowly and sang:
- Oh, sweet coolness, come to me quickly! Eye my open chest! Come quickly to me, coolness, full of bliss, and dispel the scorching heat! Oh, heavenly one, you are my joy, you revive and strengthen me! Oh, let me breathe your sweet breath!
One of the Athenians heard Cephalus singing and, not understanding the meaning of his song, told Procris that he heard her husband calling some nymph Cool in the forest. Procris was saddened; she decided that Cephalus no longer loved her, that he had forgotten her for another. Once, when Cephalus was hunting, Procris secretly went into the forest and, hiding in the densely overgrown bushes, began to wait for her husband to come. Now Cephalus appeared among the trees. He sang loudly:
- Oh, coolness full of affection, come and drive away my fatigue!
Suddenly Cephalus stopped and heard a heavy sigh. Cephalus listened, but everything was quiet in the forest, not a single leaf moved in the midday heat. Cephalus sang again:
- Hurry to me, desired coolness!
As soon as these words were spoken, something rustled quietly in the bushes. Cephalus, thinking that some wild animal was hiding in them, threw a spear that could not miss into the bushes. Procris screamed loudly, struck in the chest. Cephalus recognized her voice. He rushed to the bushes and found his wife in them. Her entire chest was covered in blood; the terrible wound was fatal. Cephalus hurries to bandage Procris' wound, but all in vain. Procris dies. Before her death she told her husband:
- Oh, Cephalus, I conjure you with the holiness of our marriage bonds, the gods of Olympus and the underground gods, to whom I am now going, I conjure you with my love, do not allow the one you called now to enter our house!
Cephalus understood from the words of the dying Procris that he had misled her. He hastens to explain to Procris her mistake. Procris weakens, her eyes are clouded with death, smiling tenderly at Cephalus, she died in his arms. With the last kiss, her soul flew off to the dark kingdom of Hades.
Cephalus was inconsolable for a long time. As if he had committed murder, he left his native Athens and retired to the seven-gate Thebes. Here he helped Amphitryon in the hunt for the elusive Tautesian fox. Poseidon sent her as punishment to the Thebans. Every month they sacrificed a boy to the fox in order to somehow quench her rage. Mullet released his dog Lailapa on the fox. Lailap would have forever pursued the fox if the thunderer Zeus had not turned both the fox and Lailap into two stones. After hunting the Tautesian fox, Cephalus took part in Amphitryon's war with the TV fighters and, thanks to his courage, achieved power over the island of Cephalenia, named after him, where he lived until his death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru