2558. Read--'Such sórw' hath shé,' &c. Bell altered the second _she_ in this line to _he_, without authority, and unnecessarily. The word _besette_ does not mean 'served' or 'treated,' as those who keep this reading have to assert, but 'bestowed' or 'gave up,' and _her_ means 'herself.' The sense is therefore--'Such sorrow hath she, because she so disposed of herself.' See _Beset_ in the New E. Dict. § 7. Caxton has: 'Orgarus thought his doughter shol wel be maryed, and wel _beset_ upon hym'; Chron. Eng. cxii. 2561. _Trusteth_, imp. pl. _As in love_, in the matter of love. This playful line is in the same spirit as l. 2393 above. IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA. The story is told in Ovid, Her. xiv. But Chaucer has taken some of the details from Boccaccio, De Genealogia Deorum, lib. ii. c. 22. Cf. Hyginus, Fab. 168. See the Introduction. 2563. _Danao_, Danaus. Danaus and Ægyptus were twin brothers. Ægyptus had 50 sons, and Danaus 50 daughters. Danaus had reason to fear his nephews, and fled with his daughters to Argos. Thither he was followed by the sons of Ægyptus, who demanded his daughters in marriage, and promised faithful alliance. Danaus distributed his daughters amongst them, but to each of them gave a dagger, with which they were to kill their husbands on the bridal night. They all did so, except Hypermnestra, who saved her husband Lynceus. Thus the attempt of Danaus failed, and he was slain by Lynceus, in accordance with the destiny predicted for him. It must be particularly noted that Chaucer makes Ægyptus and Danaus change places. According to him, Ægyptus was the father of the _daughters_, and consequently attempted the life of Lynceus; whilst Danaus was the father of the _sons_, and therefore of Lynceus. 2569. _Lino_; by which perverted name Lynceus is meant; Boccaccio has '_Lino_ seu _Linceo_' (dat. case). 2570. _Egiste_ represents Boccaccio's Ægistus, i.e. Ægyptus. 2574. 'And caused (men) to call her,' i.e. had her named. 2575. _Ypermistra_, i.e. Hypermestra, a corrupter form of Hypermnestra; see the account in the Introduction. Note that the first syllable _Y-_ forms the first foot in the line. 2576. _Of her nativitee_, by her horoscope; see l. 2584. 2577. _Thewes_, qualities. Craik has a long note on this word in his edition of Julius Cæsar. It merely comes to this, that _thew_ must have meant strength or some excellent _bodily_ quality in the first instance, and some excellent _mental_ quality afterwards. Nevertheless it is remarkable that (with one exception in Layamon, 6361) the usual _old_ sense is the latter; and the usual _modern_ sense (notably in Jul. Cæs. i. 3. 81, 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 276) is the former. The A.S. form is _þéaw_. Craik's notion that this word was confused with A.S. _þéoh_, the thigh, is entirely out of the question, and gives no help.