#tityus

Leto seated under a palm tree, with her infants Artemis and Apollo

The infant Apollo nursed by the nymphs

Themis feeding nectar to young Apollo

Leto and her twins in the presence of Poseidon

Leto punishing the Lycian peasants by turning them into frogs

Leto and her children fleeing from Python

Thick-tailed Scorpion (Tityus fasciolatus), T - under a black light and B - white/full spectrum light, family Buthidae, Brazil

The exoskeletons of scorpions fluoresce under black lights.

Though this is helpful for finding them at night, for scientific surveys, they should not be kept long term under these lights in captivity, as this light will degrade the exoskeleton, making it weak.

As when Coeus in the lowest pit bursts the adamantine bonds and trailing Jove’s fettering chains invokes Saturn and Tityus, and in his madness conceives a hope of scaling heaven, yet though he repass the rivers and the gloom the hound of the Furies and the sprawling Hydra’s crest repel him.

The first thing that stands out is who he invokes.

Saturn (Kronos) makes sense. He's his king, his brother, and a fellow prisoner. There's history behind them, and they should join forces to escape.

Then there's Tityus and he's not an ally Coeus should want. After all, he's the giant who attempted to rape Leto, Coeus' daughter.

This can be read as madness—that Coeus is so far gone that he'd reach for anyone, even a monster that wronged his own bloodline.

But I see another interpretation.

They're both in Tartarus for punishment. What are the chances he'd not want to take vengeance in his own hand while he's at it? I imagine not a lot.

For Saturn, he goes as a brother.

For Tityus, a father wanting revenge.

The second thing that stands out is Flaccus' choice of Coeus himself.

While some interpret him as a god of knowledge due to his name meaning "questioning," it changes how his escape attempt feels.

He didn't just use brute force. It was thought, calculation, persistence, and patience that came with planning to leave his prison.

And for a moment, it works, but only briefly.

He cannot overpower or out think Cerberus or the Furies.

A Brazilian yellow scorpion (Tityus serrulatus) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Tityus serrulatus is the most venomous scorpion in South America.