Æsculapius, a beloved son of Apóllo, and physician of old, who was considered by the ancients to be so intimately acquainted with the medicinal properties of every plant, that he was called the inventor and god of medicine, having, by his extraordinary skill, restored many recently dead persons to life, Plúto, whose rights were thereby infringed, and whose subjects were in consequence diminished in number, complained to Jupiter of conduct so subversive of the natural order of things. The father of the gods being incensed, struck Æsculápius with lightning, and killed him: whereupon Apóllo, to be revenged for the death of his son, slew the Cýclops who had made the thunderbolts.

This daring act of injustice and of contempt, Júpiter punished by banishing his son Apóllo from heaven, and sentencing him to the drudgeries of a menial on the earth for a limited time. In conformity, therefore, to the will and command of his father, Apóllo went into exile:— and, having come into Greece, hired himself to Admétus, king of Phéræ, in Théssaly, cheerfully submitting to rank as a servant, and faithfully discharging the duties of a shepherd for nine years.

During this sojourn of Apóllo in the house and service of Admétus, he was treated with much kindness, and became so warmly attached to the family by the ties of gratitude and the feelings of respect, that he felt inclined to confer on his master some extraordinary favor in token of his regard, and as a mark of his entire satisfaction with the treatment he had experienced.