Caphalus and Procris. Cephalus, a grandson of Aeolus, was loved by Eos (Aurora), goddess of the dawn. According to Ovid, the young hunter was tempted by the goddess to test the faithfulness of his wife, Procris. He did so by attempting to seduce her while in disguise, revealing himself when he had almost succeeded. Procris fled in shame to Artemis (Diana), who gave her two gifts: a spear that never missed its marka and a hunting dog, Laelaps, which always caught its quarry. Procris and Cephalus were later reconciled, and she gave the magical gifts to him.
Thereafter, Cephalus would take the spear and dog to go hunting. On these expeditions he often called the breeze, Aura, to cool him. Hearing from gossip that Aura was a young woman with whom her husband was having a liaison, Procris one day followed him into the forest. Mistaking her movements in the undergrowth for those of a wild animal, Cephalus killed his wife with the unerring spear.
Several versions of the myth exist—Ovid himself conflated this story with that of an Athenian Cephalus, son of Hermes and Herse. Variants disagree on the fate of Procris, but in all of them Cephalus is carried off by the amorous Eos, whose role is given prominence by Ovid and other later mythographers. Depictions in postclassical art commonly show Eos gazing on the sleeping Cephalus or abducting him in her chariot, or Cephalus mourning over the body of Procris.