ABSTRACT
A young man from Cea called Acontius, while attending a religious festival on the Greek island of Delos, caught sight of and immediately fell in love with Cydippe, a beautiful young woman from Naxos, who was also at the festival, along with her mother. While Cydippe was in Diana's temple, Acontius rolled up to her an apple on which he had inscribed the words: 'I swear by Diana to marry Acontius'. She picked up the apple, read out the words (the ancients normally read aloud) and thereby unwittingly bound herself to him on oath. She returned to Naxos and to the marriage arranged for her by her father, but as the day of the wedding approached, she fell seriously ill (due to a fever sent by Diana, as Cydippe was about to break her word). The ceremony was called off, after which she recovered.
