Pelops

But having heard these tales, the Thebans turned

back to the present; once again they mourn

Amphion and his children. They all blame

the mother; but one man, her brother Pelops—

so it is said—wept, too, for Niobe;

he drew aside his robe; he bared his chest

and showed his ivory shoulder on the left.

At Pelops’ birth, this shoulder was of flesh

and bone and had the color of the right;

but then, it’s said, his father cut up Pelops.

And when the gods had finished gathering

the pieces and poor Pelops was complete

once more, one part was missing still: the piece

between his throat and where the arm begins.

This they filled in with ivory, and so

he was again made whole.