The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

by Apollodorus

  Philomela a swallow: her lack of a tongue explains the swallow’s inarticulate cries; her identification with the nightingale in medieval and modern poetry is the result of a confusion in the Latin tradition (see Hyg. 45).

  Poseidon Erechtheus: following Heyne’s emendation (from Erichthoniou); a cult of this name is well attested for Athens.

  went to bed with Pteleon: in all other versions, Cephalos tests her virtue, causing her to flee when found wanting. He returns in disguise after travelling abroad for eight years, and offers her some finery to sleep with him (Pherecydes in sc. Od. 11. 321), or he tells a servant to offer her gold (AL 41), or Dawn changes his form to allow him to test her (Hyg. 189). It is possible that this Pteleon, who is otherwise unknown but is presumably the eponym of the Attic deme of Ptelea, may have been acting for Cephalos like the servant in AL. See also Ov. Met. 7. 690 ff.

  harmful beasts: snakes, scorpions, and millipedes, according to AL 41; Pasiphae was his wife.

  a fast-running dog: for its subsequent fate, see p. 70, and note.

  the Circaean root: this came from a plant of the milkweed family, but here it is clearly viewed as a magical charm rather than a herbal remedy. In AL 41 she finds a mechanical solution, by ensuring that the beasts are discharged into a goat’s bladder before Minos has intercourse with her.

  by the River Ilissos, Boreas carried her off: not far from Athens, see Plato Phdr. 229a ff., where there is a vivid description of the locality (and Socrates makes some shrewd comments on the rationalization of such myths), and AR 1. 211 ff. There was an alternative tradition that she was abducted from the Acropolis and conveyed to Thrace to become his wife (sc. Od. 14. 533). Boreas was the North Wind.

  while pursuing the Harpies: see p. 52 and note.

  killed by Heracles: for persuading the Argonauts not to return for him when he was left behind in Mysia (AR 1. 1298 ff; for Heracles’ abandonment, see p. 51).

  married Idaia . . . punished him for this: this version of the story, in which Idaia brings a false accusation against her adult stepsons, follows Sophocles’ lost Phineus (sc. AR 2. 178); in another version, she blinds them herself while they are still young with a weaving pin (see Soph. Antigone 970 ff.). Boreas’ presence with the Argonauts is unusual, but DS (4. 44. 4, cf. Serv. on Am. 3. 209) records that according to some mythographers (presumably following the Phineus) Phineus blinded his sons and was blinded in turn by Boreas (as the father of Phineus’ first wife, Cleopatra). For another version again, see DS 4. 43. 3 ff. (cf. sc. AR 2. 207).

  fled to the Eleusinians: and became closely associated with the Mysteries. He was the eponymous ancestor of the priestly family of the Eumolpidai, which provided the hierophant who presided over the rites and revealed the mysteries to the initiates.

  Poseidon destroyed Erechtheus: because the Athenians under Erechtheus had killed Eumolpos, his son (cf. Eur. Ion 281 f.). The story is presumably connected with the origin of the Poseidon-Erechtheus cult, p. 136, in which the god and the heroized Erechtheus shared the same shrine (P. 1. 26. 6).

  transferred the kingdom to Pandion: see also P. 1. S. 3 and 1. 39. 4; Pandion’s tomb could be seen in Megara.

  founded . . . Pylos: the Elian Pylos in the north-western Peloponnese. See also P. 6. 22. 5 and 4. 36. 1.

  Pytho: Delphi.

  mouth of the wineskin: the wineskin stands for his stomach, and its mouth or neck for his penis (cf. sc. Eur. Med. 679, which reports that the Greek word for the mouth of a wineskin, podeon, was often used in such a senst,, i” he sleeps with another woman before he returns to the height of Athens, meaning the Acropolis, he will have a male child by her rather than by his wife.

  by way of Troezen: south of the Isthmus in the Argolid, and thus well out of his way; Plut. Thes. 2 suggests that he went there to consult Pittheus about the oracle. For the place of Pittheus in Troezenian mythology, see P. 2. 30. 5 ff.; he later adopts Theseus’ son Hippolytos, see p. 142 and note.

  Poseidon slept with her too: this paternity is associated with a specific story told in Bacch. 17. 33 ff. (cf. P. 1. 17. 3). When Minos wanted to sleep with one of the Athenian girls from the tribute (see p. 137), Theseus withstood him, claiming to be the son of Poseidon; and to prove this, he leapt into the sea and recovered a golden ring thrown there by Minos, and was also given a magnificent crown by Poseidon’s wife Amphitrite (which later became a constellation, Hyg. PA 5).

  the bull of Marathon: for its origins, see p. 77 and note. Theseus will kill it, p. 139. Here Androgeos is sent to almost certain death; or he was treacherously murdered (cf. Plut. Thes. 15, and DS 4. 60. 5, where Aigeus fears Androgeos’ friendship with his enemies, the sons of Pallas). The following story of the ambush, which absolves Aigeus from blame, was probably of relatively late origin. See also P. 1. 27. 10.

  Megareus: he came with an army of Boeotians, was buried where he was killed, and the city, formerly called Nisa, was named Megara after him (see P. 1. 39. 5; this was a Boeotian tradition, apparently followed here); he was often said to be a son of Poseidon. Megara lay on the Isthmus of Corinth, bordering Attica.

  drowned her: because he was shocked by her betrayal of her father and city (cf. P. 2. 34. 7, and the similar story on p. 70). In Aesch. Choephoroi 612 ff, Minos is said to have bribed Scylla with bracelets of Cretan gold.

  Their father, Hyacinthos: not the famous Hyacinthos who was loved by Apollo, p. 119.

  labyrinth: see p. 98.

  snake’s jawbone: cf. DS 4. 76. 5 f, this led to the invention of the iron saw.

  Theseus: see Plutarch’s life of Theseus for a fuller account of all the following, with many variants. Theseus was said to have founded the Attic state by incorporating the communities outside the city of Athens (Thuc. 2. 15; Plut. Thes. 24).

  the sandals and the sword: the tokens of his birth, see p. 136.

  cleared the road: a series of labours, emulating those of Heracles (cf. DS 4. 59. 1), which establishes his heroic status. For the earliest account, see Bacch. 18. 16 ff.

  was referred to as Corynetes: a descriptive surname or nickname (as with Pityocamptes below) rather than a proper name; it was doubtless suggested by Il. 7. 138. It seems fitting that a son of the lame god Hephaistos should have weak feet, although this is otherwise unattested.

  hurled into the air: or he attached the extremities of his victims to two trees, causing them to be torn apart when the trees were released (P. 2. 1. 4, DS 4. 59. 3; in Hyg. 38 Sinis helps them to bend a tree back and they are thrown up when he lets go).

  Polypemon: as in Bacch. 18. 27, but he is more familiar as Procroustes (e.g. P. 1. 38. 5; this may have been mentioned in the full text as a descriptive surname like those above, meaning ‘he who beats out’). In DS 4. 59. 5 the travellers are adjusted to fit a single bed. In Hyg. 38, he stretches the legs of the short men by hanging anvils from them.

  Medea . . . schemed against him: to protect her position and that of her son by Aigeus; see also p. 57.

  the bull of Marathon: see p. 77 and note.

  tribute . . . to the Minotaur: for the tribute, see p. 137; for the Minotaur, p. 98.

  the children: the boys and girls saved from the tribute.

  Dionysosfell in love with Ariadne: in Od. 11. 321 ff., she was killed there by Artemis at the urging of Dionysos. For the varied tradition thereafter, see Plut. Thes. 20; she was often said to have been deserted by Theseus (either for another woman or accidentally).

  the sons of Pallas: Pallas was the brother of Aigeus; he and his sons disputed the succession, alleging that Aigeus was not a true son of Pandion (Plut. Thes. 13; Ap. points to a tradition that Aigeus was a supposititious child on p. 136).

  Icarian Sea: in the south-eastern Aegean, in the region of Icaria and Samos.

  accompanied Heracles. . . against the Amazons: this was generally regarded as a separate and later expedition, made by Theseus alone, or in conjunction with Peirithoos (see Plut. Thes. 26).

  Amazons marched against Athens: see also DS 4. 28, Plut. Thes. 27.

&nb
sp; by the Areiopagos: see Aesch. Eumenides 685 ff, where it is said that the hill gained its name because they offered sacrifices there to Ares (as god of war); but see also p. 131 and note.

  Deucalion: the son of Minos and a successor as king of Crete, see pp. 97 and 99.

  Phaedra . . . asked him to sleep with her: Ap. gives the traditional version of her story (cf. Ov. Met. 15. 497 ff., and Seneca’s Phaedra). Euripides’ surviving Hippolytos (his second play on the theme) is more sympathetic to Phaedra, presenting her as an unwilling victim of Aphrodite who refuses to declare her love and kills herself when her nurse betrays it to Hippolytos.

  hated all women: he was a devotee of the virgin goddess Artemis.

  along the sea-shore: at Troezen in the Argolid, where Hippolytos was the adopted heir of its king, Pittheus (the grandfather of Theseus, see p. 136). Historically there was a cult of Hippolytos there; girls made offerings of their hair to him at marriage (P. 2. 32. 1).

  Ixion: his story is relevant to the subsequent account of Theseus’ association with Peirithoos (king of the Lapiths in Thessaly) and their battle with the Centaurs, because Ixion was both the father of Peirithoos and the ancestor of the Centaurs (through his son Centauros, who fathered them by mating with mares near Mount Pelion, Pind. Pyth. 2. 44 ff., except for the ‘good’ Centaurs Cheiron and Pholos, who were of different birth, see pp. 29 and 75). Ixion’s behaviour towards Hera was particularly reprehensible because Zeus had purified Ixion after he had murdered his father-in-law, and welcomed him in heaven (DS 4. 69. 4); for a fuller portrayal of his transgression and punishment, see Pind. Pyth. 2. 21 ff.

  Theseus joined Peirithoos: this paragraph is inserted from Zenobius 5. 33. Surviving accounts of the banquet are late (e.g. DS 4. 70. 3 f, Plut. Thes. 30), although the prowess of Peirithoos, Theseus, and Caineus in fighting the Centaurs is referred to by Homer (Il. 1. 262 ff.).

  as relatives of the bride: thus Zenobius, but this is probably a mistake, because they were certainly relatives of the bridegroom (cf. VM 1. 162, where they are invited as Peirithoos’ neighbours and relatives), and this connection would surely have been explained in the preceding section on Ixion.

  buried in the earth: the gods are said to have incited the Centaurs against Caineus because of his violence and his presumption in wanting to be honoured as a god (e.g. sc. Il. 1. 264). On the limits of invulnerability, see p. 73 on the Nemean lion and note.

  captured Athens: according to the usual account, followed on p. 121, she was hidden at Aphidnai, to the north-east of Athens, and was recovered when the Dioscuri captured that city (cf. Plut. Thes. 32–3, where it is said that they were received into Athens afterwards without a fight). It is reported, however, that in a poem in the epic cycle they plundered Athens after taking Aphidnai (sc. Il. 3. 242; cf. P. 5. 19. 3 on the Cypselos chest). The Epitome may misrepresent the original text here.

  took away Aithra: she became Helen’s servant and was taken to Troy (see Plut. Thes. 34, and Il. 3. 143 f.); and when it fell, she was recovered by these two sons of Theseus, Demophon and Acamas, see p. 157.

  Menestheus: a great-grandson of Erechtheus, and thus in the royal line; the leader of the Athenians in the Trojan War, p. 148, Il. 2. 552.

  became stuck to it: the rock grew to their flesh (P. 10. 29. 9, referring to Panyasis and contrasting this with the tradition that they were pinioned to the chair; it seems that two versions from different sources are combined here). The name of the chair suggests that it affected the mind also (see Horace Odes 4. 7. 27 f).

  Lycomedes: he ruled in Scyros, off Euboea, and either feared Theseus’ influence over his subjects or wanted to gratify Menestheus (see Plut. Thes. 35, P. 1. 17. 6). See also p. 129.

  Tantalos: son of Zeus and Pluto, daughter of Cronos (or according to some, the son of Tmolos). A wealthy king in Lydia, in Asia Minor, he is introduced here as the ancestor of the Pelopids, the Peloponnesian line which provided the kings of Mycenae and Sparta at the time of the Trojan War. For his punishment, cf. Od. 11. 582 ff. (without any mention of the stone, but Archilochus knew of it in the seventh century, sc. Pind. ol. 1. 97).

  share ambrosia with his friends: after he had been welcomed at the table of the gods and made immortal with ambrosia, the food of the gods, he wanted to share it with other mortals, Pind. ol. 1. 59 ff. For the betrayal of divine secrets, cf. DS 4. 74. 2. The darker story that he served his son Pelops at a banquet of the gods (which Pindar refused to believe, ol. 1. 26 ff.) must have been mentioned in the full text, as it is referred to just below.

  Broteas: the son of Tantalos; see also Ovid Ibis. 517 ff. and P. 3. 22.4.

  a winged chariot: since Pindar talks of a golden chariot drawn by horses with unwearying wings (ol. 1. 87), and Pelops’ horses were portrayed with wings on the sixth-century chest of Cypselos (P. 5. 17. 7), the ‘winged chariot’ of the Epitome may be misleading. In Pindar’s account, this gift from Poseidon is sufficient to ensure victory for Pelops (and probably elsewhere in the earlier tradition; Pherecydes, in the fifth century, is the earliest author known to have referred to Myrtilos in this connection, sc. AR 1. 752).

  Pisa: in Elis, the north-western province of the Peloponnese.

  failed to insert the axle-pins: or according to Pherecydes (ibid.) he inserted axle-pins made of wax.

  the Myrtoan Sea: lying to the east of the Peloponnese and south of Attica; Geraistos was the southernmost cape of Euboea. It was also said that Pelops had promised Myrtilos that he could spend a night with Hippodameia, and pitched him overboard when he reminded him of this (P. 8. 14. 11).

  curses at the house of Pelops: amply fulfilled; it was said by some that this caused Hermes, the father of Myrtilos, to send the golden lamb that causes such trouble below (Eur. Orest. 989 ff. with sc. to 990; but below it is sent by Artemis as a sign to confirm Atreus’ kingship).

  Apia or Pelasgiotis: for Apia as a previous name of the Peloponnese, see p. 58; Pelasgiotis must likewise be a previous name, when it was named after Pelasgos (cf. ibid., although we would expect the form Pelasgia). It now gains its definitive name (as the ‘island’ of Pelops; but it should be noted that the story of Pelops’ sons and grandsons indicates that the main centres outside Elis could not have been ruled by him at this time).

  placed it in a chest: i.e. its fleece.

  the Mycenaeans . . . had sent for Atreus and Thyestes: they are already outside their father’s kingdom of Pisa in Elis because they were summoned by Sthenelos, the father of Eurystheus, to Midea in Argos when he banished Amphitryon, p. 69. In the meantime, Sthenelos has died and Eurystheus has been killed by Hyllos, p. 92, but the Perseid heirs, the Heraclids, have been told by the oracle that they are not to return to the Peloponnese until later, ibid. Correspondingly, it is the divine will that the Pelopids should rule Mycenae in the intervening period; according to sc. Eur. Orest. 4, this was revealed in the oracle received by the Heraclids. It was also said that Pelops had expelled Atreus and Thyestes for murdering his illegitimate son Chrysippos (ibid.).

  the adultery: between his wife Aerope and Thyestes.

  intercourse with his own daughter: her name was Pelopia. In one version of this story, she submitted to the incest out of duty (e.g. Hyg. 254), in another, Thyestes raped her unknowingly at Sicyon during nocturnal rites (Hyg. 88). Here we can assume the former; Thyestes is acting in direct obedience to the oracle.

  sought refuge: i.e. from Agamemnon and Menelaos, when they came of age.

  But Agamemnon . . . marrying his daughters: the gap in the text is filled by an extract from Tzetzes, Chiliades 1. 456–62, which is based on Ap. It explains how Agamemnon and Menelaos escaped to safety after the murder of Atreus. Although they were described above, p. 99, as sons of Pleisthenes (and thus grandsons of Atreus), they are surely sons of Atreus here. Tyndareus fled to Aetolia after he was expelled from Sparta by Hippocoon and his sons, see p. 120 and note. After Heracles had killed them, Tyndareus was able to return (see p. 88), bringing Agamemnon and Menelaos with him. Later Agamemnon expelled Thyes
tes and became king in Mycenae, and Menelaos became king in Sparta after the death of the Dioscuri deprived Tyndareus of his heirs, p. 122.