The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) (42 page)

Herse . . . Phaethon
: in
Theog
. 984 ff., Dawn bears Memnon and Emathion to Tithonos (as on p. 124), and Phaethon to Cephalos. On p. 44 this Cephalos was said to be a son of Deion; but it seems likely that Cephalos son of Deion, the hunter and husband of Procris, p. 134, was originally not the same figure as the son of Hermes associated with Dawn. In
Theog
. 986 ff. this Phaethon is abducted by Aphrodite and made guardian of one of her temples; he should not be identified with the more famous son of the Sun who borrowed his father’s chariot and was struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt when he was unable to control the horses and almost set the earth on fire, DS 5. 23, Ov.
Met
. 2. 19 ff.

slept with foreigners
: presumably a reference to temple prostitution in connection with the cult of Aphrodite-Astarte. The cause of Aphrodite’s anger (perhaps neglect of her cult) is not recorded. Cinyras was associated with the cult of Paphian Aphrodite in Cyprus (Pind.
Pyth
. 2. 15 ff., Tacitus
Hist
. 2. 3).

a son of Theias
: the following story of incest between father and daughter is most generally favoured to explain Adonis’ birth, whether the king in question is called Theias (cf. AL 34) or Cinyras (e.g. Hyg. 58, where Cinyras is described as the king of the Assyrians; cf. Ov.
Met
. 10. 298 ff.). As we see in Ovid, his daughter is sometimes called Myrrha (in Greek,
Smyrna
was an alternative word for myrrh).

born to Hephaistos and Athene
: it will be seen that this is a loose expression, as he is born from the earth as a son of Hephaistos. The following story allows him to be earthborn (in a peculiar way) and yet have a special connection with Athene although she is a virgin goddess.

with a piece of wool
: this was introduced into the story for etymological reasons, to explain Erichthonios’ name by his birth from the ground,
chthon
, when the wool,
erion
, fell on it (as in
Et.
Magn.;
others pointed to the struggle,
eris
, between Athene and Hephaistos, e.g. Hyg. 166).

a snake
: placed there by Athene to guard him (cf. Eur.
Ion
. 21–3, where there are two snakes, and VM 2. 37); but the serpent is sometimes identified with the earthborn Erichthonios himself (Hyg.
PA
13; in Hyg. 166, he is half serpent like Cecrops).

her sanctuary
: the Erechtheum on the Acropolis.

the wooden image of Athene
: a primitive olive-wood statue
(xoanon)
, comparable to the Palladion at Troy, p. 123 (and said by some to have fallen from the sky as the Palladion did, P. 1. 26. 7).

Panathenaia
: the great summer festival celebrated in honour of Athene as patroness of the city. There was a procession to the Parthenon (as depicted in its frieze), bulls were sacrificed, and a new robe was offered to the enormous statue of Athene in the temple.

Demeter . . . at Eleusis
: see p. 33. Eleusis was independent until the seventh century. Demeter introduced corn, Dionysos wine.

Labdacos
: king of Thebes, see p. 103, in Boeotia, which lay on Attica’s northern border; this is the only mythical tale associated with his brief reign.

hid her away in the country
: this is followed by a problematic phrase omitted in the translation, ‘and then, after marrying Philomela, he went to bed with her’. There is no suggestion in any surviving source that Tereus married Philomela, nor is it implied elsewhere in the present account. On the contrary, he sleeps with her
secretly
, and Procne remains his wife. It was said that Tereus had travelled to Athens to fetch Philomela because her sister wanted to see her, and he raped her on the journey back (e.g. VM 1. 8).

reached Daulis in Phocis
: Phocis lay to the west of Boeotia and Attica. Tereus was commonly said to have been king of Daulis (Thuc. 2. 29, P. 1. 41. 8, etc.), but here he lives far to the north in Thrace (as in Hyg. 45) and pursues the sisters to Daulis. It was generally accepted that he was of Thracian descent.

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.

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).